American Wigeon Similar Species Comparison
Main SpeciesAmerican Wigeon
Male
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.
© Karl Krueger / Macaulay LibraryMaryland, February 06, 2016Female
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.
© Alix d'Entremont / Macaulay LibraryNova Scotia, February 28, 2015Female
Dips bill in water to pick up aquatic plants and insects from the surface or tips up to pluck submerged vegetation.
© Eric Liner / Macaulay LibraryAlaska, June 20, 2007Adult male
In flight males show a prominent white patch on the upperwing, green secondaries, and white under the wing.
© Alix d'Entremont / Macaulay LibraryNova Scotia, February 28, 2015Eclipse male
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.
© Esme Rosen / Macaulay LibraryCalifornia, September 23, 2012Breeding male and female
Eats primarily vegetation such as duckweed, pond weed, water milfoil, and wigeon grass during the nonbreeding season.
© Jay McGowan / Macaulay LibraryNew York, November 08, 2014Female/immature
In flight, female has a dark speculum bordered by a thin white wing stripe.
© Paul Fenwick / Macaulay LibraryCalifornia, November 02, 2019Male
In some lights the green head stripe can look bronzy.
© Sherrie Quillen / Macaulay LibraryTennessee, December 10, 2016Male and female
Uses its short gooselike bill to pluck vegetation and seeds from fields and pastures.
© Jay McGowan / Macaulay LibraryNew York, March 19, 2015Male
A small number of males have white on the cheeks and throat, which hunters often refer to as a "storm wigeon."
© Joshua Glant / Macaulay LibraryWashington, December 10, 2017Male and female
When startled, erupts in flight from the water's surface, flying rapidly and erratically.
© Becky Matsubara / Macaulay LibraryCalifornia, December 16, 2020Breeding male and female
Pairs form on the wintering ground and stay together throughout most of incubation.
© Timothy Barksdale / Macaulay LibraryOregon, March 20, 2001Flock
Often occurs in flocks during the nonbreeding season. Found in a wide variety of wetland habitats including lakes, wetlands, and flooded farm fields.
© Diane Drobka / Macaulay LibraryArizona, December 27, 2020Similar SpeciesEurasian Wigeon
Adult male
Eurasian Wigeons can be separated from American Wigeons by their head and forehead color; Eurasians have a chestnut head and a buffy forehead and American Wigeons have a grayish brown head and a white crown.
© Greg Gillson / Macaulay LibraryOregon, February 19, 2011Similar SpeciesEurasian Wigeon
Female
Female Eurasian Wigeons have a rustier head than female American Wigeons. Best told by the silver (not white) underwings on Eurasian Wigeons in flight.
© Ian Davies / Macaulay LibraryMiyazaki, December 23, 2013Similar SpeciesGreen-winged Teal
Breeding male (American)
Green-winged Teals are smaller than American Wigeons with a chestnut face and neck, and a vertical white bar on its side that wigeons lack.
© Jeff Stacey / Macaulay LibraryCalifornia, February 22, 2017Similar SpeciesGreen-winged Teal
Female/nonbreeding male
Female Green-winged Teals are smaller than American Wigeons with a larger bill. They also have a creamy streak near the rear that wigeons lack.
© Luke Seitz / Macaulay LibraryMaine, September 21, 2011Similar SpeciesGadwall
Breeding male
Breeding male Gadwalls lack the male American Wigeon's white forehead and have darker body plumage and bill than female American Wigeons.
© Carl Miller / Macaulay LibrarySouth Carolina, March 05, 2017Similar SpeciesGadwall
Female
Female Gadwalls can be separated from female American Wigeons by their longer orange bill.
© Talmadge Pipkin / Macaulay LibraryFlorida, February 04, 2017Search species and articles
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