Mareca americana
Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Megaclassis: Osteichthyes
Cladus: Sarcopterygii
Cladus: Rhipidistia
Cladus: Tetrapodomorpha
Cladus: Eotetrapodiformes
Cladus: Elpistostegalia
Superclassis: Tetrapoda
Cladus: Reptiliomorpha
Cladus: Amniota
Classis: Reptilia
Cladus: Eureptilia
Cladus: Romeriida
Subclassis: Diapsida
Cladus: Sauria
Infraclassis: Archosauromorpha
Cladus: Crurotarsi
Divisio: Archosauria
Cladus: Avemetatarsalia
Cladus: Ornithodira
Subtaxon: Dinosauromorpha
Cladus: Dinosauriformes
Cladus: Dracohors
Cladus: Dinosauria
Ordo: Saurischia
Cladus: Eusaurischia
Subordo: Theropoda
Cladus: Neotheropoda
Cladus: Averostra
Cladus: Tetanurae
Cladus: Avetheropoda
Cladus: Coelurosauria
Cladus: Tyrannoraptora
Cladus: Maniraptoromorpha
Cladus: Maniraptoriformes
Cladus: Maniraptora
Cladus: Pennaraptora
Cladus: Paraves
Cladus: Eumaniraptora
Cladus: Avialae
Infraclassis: Aves
Cladus: Euavialae
Cladus: Avebrevicauda
Cladus: Pygostylia
Cladus: Ornithothoraces
Cladus: Ornithuromorpha
Cladus: Carinatae
Parvclassis: Neornithes
Cohors: Neognathae
Cladus: Pangalloanserae
Cladus: Galloanseres
Ordo: Anseriformes
Familia: Anatidae
Genus: Mareca
Species: Mareca americana
Name
Mareca americana Gmelin, 1789
Synonymy
Anas americana (protonym)
References
Gmelin, J.F. 1789. Caroli a Linné systema naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I, Pars II. Editio decima tertia, aucta, reformata. - pp. 501–1032. Lipsiae. (Beer). DOI: 10.5962/bhl.title.545 : 526 #97 BHL Reference page.
Vernacular names
العربية: ودجون أمريكي
български: Американски фиш
brezhoneg: Houad Jansen
català: Ànec xiulador nord-americà
čeština: Hvízdák americký
Cymraeg: Chwiwell America
dansk: Amerikansk Pibeand
Deutsch: Kanadapfeifente
English: American Wigeon
Esperanto: Amerika fajfanaso
español: Silbón americano
eesti: Ameerika viupart
euskara: Amerikar ahate txistulari
فارسی: گیلار آمریکایی
suomi: Amerikanhaapana
føroyskt: Bolladunna
français: Canard d'Amérique
galego: Asubiador americano
עברית: ברווז אמריקאי
हिन्दी: अमेरिकी पतेरा
magyar: Álarcos réce
հայերեն: Ամերիկական վայրի բադ
íslenska: Ljóshöfðaönd
italiano: Fischione americano
日本語: アメリカヒドリ
한국어: 아메리카홍머리오리
lietuvių: Amerikinė cyplė
Nāhuatl: Xalcanauhtli
Plattdüütsch: Noordamerikaanschen Smunt
Nederlands: Amerikaanse smient
norsk: Amerikablesand
Diné bizaad: Naalʼeełí bitsiitʼáád łigaaígíí
polski: Świstun amerykański
português: Piadeira-americana
русский: Американская свиязь
slovenčina: Kačica bielohlavá
svenska: Amerikansk bläsand
українська: Свищ американський
Tiếng Việt: Vịt trời Mỹ
中文: 葡萄胸鴨
The American wigeon (Mareca americana), also known as the baldpate, is a species of dabbling duck found in North America. Formerly assigned to Anas, this species is classified with the other wigeons in the dabbling duck genus Mareca. It is the New World counterpart of the Eurasian wigeon.
Taxonomy
The American wigeon was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it with all the other ducks, geese and swans in the genus Anas and coined the binomial name Anas americana.[2] Gmelin based his description on Edme-Louis Daubenton's hand-colour plate of "Le Canard Jensen, de la Louisiane" and Thomas Pennant's description of the "American wigeon" in his Arctic Zoology. Pennant had been sent a specimen from New York.[3][4][5] The American wigeon is now placed with the Eurasian wigeon and three other dabbling ducks in the genus Mareca that was introduced in 1824 by the English naturalist James Francis Stephens.[6][7] The name of the genus is from the Portuguese word Marréco for a small duck.[8] The species is considered to be monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.[7]
An alternative common name is the "baldpate" due to whitish crown and forehead of the male bird.[9]
Description
Male in winter plumage in New Jersey, USA
The American wigeon is a medium-sized bird; it is larger than a teal, but smaller than a pintail. In silhouette, the wigeon can be distinguished from other dabblers by its round head, short neck, and small bill.[10] It is 42–59 cm (17–23 in) long, with a 76–91 cm (30–36 in) wingspan and a weight of 512–1,330 g (1.129–2.932 lb).[11][12][13] This wigeon has two adult molts per year and a juvenile molt in the first year, as well.[11]
The breeding male (drake) is a striking bird with a mask of green feathers around its eyes and a cream colored cap running from the crown of its head to its bill. This white patch gives the wigeon its other common name, baldpate (pate is another word for head).[14] Their belly is also white.[15] In flight, drakes can be identified by the large white shoulder patch on each wing. These white patches flash as the birds bank and turn. In non-breeding (eclipse) plumage, the drake looks more like the female.[10]
The hens are much less conspicuous, having primarily gray and brown plumage. Both sexes have a pale blue bill with a black tip, a white belly, and gray legs and feet.[10] The wing patch behind the speculum is gray. They can be distinguished from most ducks, apart from Eurasian wigeon, by shape. However, that species has a darker head and all grey underwing. The head and neck coloring of the female is different as opposed to the Eurasian wigeon.[15] It nests on the ground, near water and under cover. It lays 6–12 creamy white eggs. Flocks will often contain American coots.[11]
The American wigeon is a noisy species, and in the field can often be identified by their distinctive calls. Drakes produce a three note whistle, while hens emit hoarse grunts and quacks.[10] The male whistle makes a wheezy whoee-whoe-whoe, whereas the female has a low growl qua-ack.
Distribution and habitat
Female and ducklings
It is common and widespread, breeding in all but the extreme north of Canada and Alaska and also in the Interior West through Idaho, Colorado, the Dakotas, and Minnesota, as well as eastern Washington and Oregon.[11][15] The conservation status of this bird is Least Concern.[1] The majority of the population breeds on wetlands in the Boreal Forest and subarctic river deltas of Canada and Alaska. Although wigeon are found in each flyway, they are most numerous in the Pacific Flyway. Key wintering areas here include the Central Valley of California and Washington's Puget Sound. Farther east, the Texas Panhandle, the Gulf Coast of Louisiana and Texas, and the Caribbean also support large numbers of wintering wigeon.[10]
This dabbling duck is migratory and winters farther south than its breeding range, in the southern half of the United States, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, and the Mid-Atlantic coastal region,[11][15] and further south into Central America, the Caribbean, and northwestern South America.[16] It is a rare but regular vagrant to western Europe,[11] and has been observed in significant numbers in Great Britain and Ireland since at least 1958.[17]
In 2009, an estimated 2.5 million breeding wigeon were tallied in the traditional survey area—a level just below the 1955–2009 average. In recent decades, wigeon numbers have declined in the Prairie Pothole Region of Canada and increased in the interior and west coast of Alaska. The American wigeon is often the fifth most commonly harvested duck in the United States, behind the mallard, green-winged teal, gadwall, and wood duck.[10]
Behavior
Male in flight at the Llano Seco Unit of the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge Complex, California
The American wigeon is a bird of open wetlands, such as wet grassland or marshes with some taller vegetation, and usually feeds by dabbling for plant food or grazing, which it does very readily. While on the water, wigeon often gather with feeding coots and divers, and are known to grab pieces of vegetation brought to the surface by diving water birds. For this reason, they are sometimes called "poacher" or "robber" ducks. Wigeon also commonly feed on dry land, eating waste grain in harvested fields and grazing on pasture grasses, winter wheat, clover, and lettuce. Having a largely vegetarian diet, most wigeon migrate in the fall well before northern marshes begin to freeze.[10] The American wigeon is highly gregarious outside of the breeding season and will form large flocks.[11]
Breeding
Breeding begins in April-May. The nest is a depression on dry ground, often some distance from water. It is lined with grass and down and is hidden in vegetation. The clutch is 7–9 cream colored eggs which measure on average 52.9 mm × 37.5 mm (2.08 in × 1.48 in) and weigh 43 g (1.5 oz). They are incubated for 23–25 days by the female only. The male usually deserts the female before the end of incubation period. The young are precocial and leave the nest within 24 hours of hatching. They can feed themselves. The young can fly when around 47 days of age.[9]
References
BirdLife International (2016). "Mareca americana". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T22680163A92846924. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22680163A92846924.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
Gmelin, Johann Friedrich (1789). Systema naturae per regna tria naturae : secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis (in Latin). Vol. 1, Part 2 (13th ed.). Lipsiae [Leipzig]: Georg. Emanuel. Beer. p. 526.
Buffon, Georges-Louis Leclerc de; Martinet, François-Nicolas; Daubenton, Edme-Louis; Daubenton, Louis-Jean-Marie (1765–1783). "Le canard jensen de Louisiane". Planches Enluminées D'Histoire Naturelle. Vol. 10. Paris: De L'Imprimerie Royale. Plate 955.
Pennant, Thomas (1785). Arctic Zoology. Vol. 2. London, United Kingdom: Printed by Henry Hughs. pp. 567–568, No. 502.
Mayr, Ernst; Cottrell, G. William, eds. (1979). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 1 (2nd ed.). Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 463.
Stephens, James Francis (1824). General Zoology, or Systematic Natural History, by the Late George Shaw. Vol. 12 Part 2. London: Printed for G. Kearsley. p. 130.
Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (January 2022). "Screamers, ducks, geese & swans". IOC World Bird List Version 12.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 241. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
Mini, A.E.; Harrington, E.R.; Rucker, E.; Dugger, B.D.; Mowbray, T.B. (2020). Poole, A.F. (ed.). "American Wigeon (Mareca americana), version 1.0". Birds of the World. Ithaca, NY, USA: Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
"The American Wigeon". Ducks Unlimited. May–June 2010.
Floyd, T. (2008). Smithsonian Field Guide to the Birds of North America. New York: Harper Collins.
"American Wigeon". All About Birds.
Dunning, John B. Jr., ed. (1992). CRC Handbook of Avian Body Masses. CRC Press. ISBN 978-0-8493-4258-5.
"Baldpate | bird". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2021-06-17.
Dunn, J.; Alderfer, J. (2006). National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America (5th ed.).
Clements, James (2007). The Clements Checklist of the Birds of the World. Cornell University Press, Ithaca.
Votier, Stephen C.; Harrop, Andrew H.J.; Denny, Matthew (January 2003). "A review of the status and identification of American Wigeon in Britain & Ireand". British Birds. 96 (1): 2–22. ISSN 0007-0335.
Sources
Harrop, A. (1994). "Field identification of American Wigeon". Birding World. 7: 50–56.
Jiquet, F. (1999). "Photo forum: Hybrid American Wigeons". Birding World. 12: 247–252.
Larkin, P. (2000). "Eyelid colour of American Wigeon". British Birds. 93: 39–40.
Madge, Steve; Burn, Hilary (1988). Waterfowl: an Identification Guide to the Ducks, Geese, and Swans of the World. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0-395-46727-6.
Olson, Storrs L.; James, Helen F.; Meister, C. A. (1981). "Winter field notes and specimen weights of Cayman Island birds". Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club. 101 (3): 339–346. hdl:10088/6535.
Votier, S. C.; Harrop, A. H. J.; Denny, M. (2003). "A review of status and identification of American Wigeon in Britain and Ireland". British Birds. 96: 2–22.
Cox, Cameron; Barry, Jessie. "Aging of American and Eurasian Wigeons in female-type plumages" (PDF). Birding. 37 (2): 156–164. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-10-19. Retrieved 2011-10-09.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/"
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License
