A compact duck with a short, pale bill and a round head. Breeding males have a brownish gray head with a wide green stripe behind the eye and a white cap.
Females have a warm brown body with a brownish gray head and a dark smudge around the eye. Note the pale bill tipped in black.
Dips bill in water to pick up aquatic plants and insects from the surface or tips up to pluck submerged vegetation.
In flight males show a prominent white patch on the upperwing, green secondaries, and white under the wing.
Nonbreeding males have a reddish brown body with a brownish gray head and a dark smudge around the eye. The prominent white patch in the wing and green secondaries may not always be visible.
Eats primarily vegetation such as duckweed, pond weed, water milfoil, and wigeon grass during the nonbreeding season.
In flight, female has a dark speculum bordered by a thin white wing stripe.
In some lights the green head stripe can look bronzy.
Uses its short gooselike bill to pluck vegetation and seeds from fields and pastures.
A small number of males have white on the cheeks and throat, which hunters often refer to as a "storm wigeon."
When startled, erupts in flight from the water's surface, flying rapidly and erratically.
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American Wigeons are medium-sized, rather compact ducks with a short bill and a round head. They tend to sit on the water with their heads pulled down, giving them a no-necked look.
Larger than a Green-winged Teal, smaller than a Mallard.
between crow and gooseDucks, Geese, and Waterfowl(Order: Anseriformes, Family: Anatidae)
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