Ajay Kumar at 21:18, 30 August 2023

2023-08-30T21:18:52Z

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{{short description|Species of bird}}
{{Speciesbox
| name = Eurasian wigeon
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 13 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2017 |title=''Mareca penelope'' |volume=2017 |page=e.T22680157A111892532 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-1.RLTS.T22680157A111892532.en |access-date=13 November 2021}}</ref>
| image = Mareca penelope kuribo cropped.jpg
|image_caption=Male (rear) and female (front)
| image2 =Eurasian Wigeon (Anas penelope) (W1CDR0001386 BD2).ogg
|image2_caption=Calls recorded in Dorset
| genus = Mareca
| species = penelope
| authority = ([[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|1758]])
| synonyms = *''Anas penelope'' <small>Linnaeus, 1758</small>
| range_map = Mareca penelope map.svg
}}

The '''Eurasian wigeon''' or '''European wigeon''' ('''''Mareca penelope'''''), also known as the '''widgeon''' or the '''wigeon''', is one of three species of [[wigeon]] in the [[dabbling duck]] [[genus]] ''Mareca''. It is common and widespread within its [[Palearctic]] range.

==Taxonomy==
The Eurasian wigeon was described by [[Carl Linnaeus]] in his landmark 1758 [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'']] under the [[Binomial nomenclature|binomial name]] ''Anas penelope''.<ref name=Linnaeus/><ref>{{cite book | editor1-last=Mayr | editor1-first=E. | editor1-link=Ernst Mayr | editor2-last=Cottrell | editor2-first=G.W. | year=1979 | title=Check-list of Birds of the World, Volume | volume=1 | edition=1 2nd | publisher=Museum of Comparative Zoology | place=Cambridge, Massachusetts | page=462 | url= https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/16109102}}</ref> ''Anas'' is the [[Latin]] word for "duck", and ''penelope'' refers to a duck that was supposed to have rescued [[Penelope]] when she was thrown into the sea. Her name derives from [[Ancient Greek]] πήνη ''pene'', "braid" and ὤψ ''ops'' "appearance", from the ruse she used to deter suitors while her husband [[Odysseus|Ulysses]] was absent.<ref name= job90>{{cite book | last= Jobling | first= James A | year= 2010| title= The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | url= https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling | publisher = Christopher Helm | location = London | isbn = 978-1-4081-2501-4 |pages = [https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling/page/n46 46], 296}}</ref>

==Description==
This [[dabbling duck]] is {{convert|42|–|52|cm|in|abbr=on}} long with a {{convert|71|–|80|cm|in|abbr=on}} wingspan, and a weight of {{convert|500|-|1073|g|lb|abbr=on}}.<ref name=Floyd/><ref name=CRC/> The breeding male has grey flanks and back, with a black rear end, a dark green [[speculum feathers|speculum]] and a brilliant white patch on upper wings, obvious in flight or at rest. It has a pink breast, white belly, and a chestnut head with a creamy [[crown (anatomy)|crown]].<ref name=Dunn/> In non-breeding (eclipse) plumage, the drake looks more like the female. The female is light brown, with [[plumage]] much like a female [[American wigeon]]. It can be distinguished from most other ducks, apart from American wigeon, on shape. However, that species has a paler head and white axillaries on its underwing. The female can be a rufous [[Polymorphism (biology)|morph]] with a redder head, and a gray morph with a more gray head.<ref name=Dunn/>

==Distribution==
[[File:Anas penelope MWNH 0970.JPG|left|thumb|Egg, Collection [[Museum Wiesbaden]]]]
It breeds in the northernmost areas of Europe and the [[Palearctic]].<ref name=Clements/> It is the Old World counterpart of North America's [[American wigeon]]. It is strongly [[bird migration|migratory]] and winters further south than its breeding range. It migrates to southern Asia and Africa.<ref name=Clements/> In [[Great Britain]] and [[Ireland]], the Eurasian wigeon is common as a winter visitor, but scarce as a breeding bird in [[Scotland]], the [[Lake District]], the [[Pennines]] and occasionally further south, with only a handful of breeding pairs in [[Ireland]]. It can be found as an uncommon winter visitor in the United States on the [[Mid-Atlantic States|mid-Atlantic]] and [[Pacific]] coasts. It is a rare visitor to the rest of the United States except for the [[Four Corners]] and the southern [[Appalachians]].<ref name=Floyd/><ref name=Dunn/>

==Behaviour and habitat==
[[File:Mareca penelope in flight s4.jpg|thumb|left|Two males and a female in flight]]
The Eurasian 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. It nests on the ground, near water and under cover. It is highly gregarious outside of the breeding season and will form large flocks. They will join with flocks of the [[American wigeon]] in the United States, and they also hybridize with them.<ref name=Floyd/> This is a noisy species. The male has a clear whistle that sounds like: "pjiew pjiew", whereas the female has a low growl: "rawr".

The Eurasian wigeon is one of the species to which the ''Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds'' ([[AEWA]]) applies. Its conservation status is [[least concern]].<ref name="iucn status 13 November 2021" />

==Footnotes==
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name=Clements>{{harvnb|Clements|2007}}</ref>
<ref name=CRC>{{harvnb|Dunning|1992}}</ref>
<ref name=Dunn>{{harvnb|Dunn|Alderfer|2006}}</ref>
<ref name=Floyd>{{harvnb|Floyd|2008}}</ref>
<ref name=Linnaeus>{{harvnb|Linnaeus|1758}}</ref>
}}

==References==

* {{cite book |last=Clements |first=James |year=2007 |url=http://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/cup_detail.taf?ti_id=4566 |title=The Clements Checklist of the Birds of the World |publisher=Cornell University Press |location=Ithaca }}
* {{cite book |last1=Dunn |first1=J. |last2=Alderfer |first2=J. |year=2006 |title=National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America |edition=5th }}
* {{cite book |editor-last=Dunning |editor-first=John B. Jr. |title=CRC Handbook of Avian Body Masses |publisher=CRC Press |year=1992 |isbn=978-0-8493-4258-5 }}
* {{cite book |last=Floyd |first=T. |year=2008 |title=Smithsonian Field Guide to the Birds of North America |publisher=Harper Collins |location=NY }}
* {{cite book |last=Linnaeus |first=C. |author-link=Carl Linnaeus |title=Systema naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I. Editio decima, reformata. |location=Holmiae [Stockholm] |publisher=(Laurentii Salvii). |year=1758 |volume=1 |quote=A. cauda acutiufcula subtus nigra, carite brunneo, fronte alba. |pages=126 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/727031 }}{{in lang|la}}

===Identification===
* {{cite journal |last1=Cox |first1=Cameron |first2=Jessie |last2=Barry |url=http://www.aba.org/birding/v37n2p156.pdf |title=Aging of American and Eurasian Wigeons in female-type plumages |journal=[[Birding (magazine)|Birding]] |volume=37 |issue=2 |pages=156–164 |access-date=2011-10-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121019060610/http://aba.org/birding/v37n2p156.pdf |archive-date=2012-10-19 |url-status=dead }}

==Gallery==
<Gallery>
File:Wigeon3.jpg|Eurasian wigeon pair at [[Nandur Madhmeshwar Bird Sanctuary]], India
</Gallery>

==External links==
{{Commons category|Mareca penelope}}
{{Wikispecies|Anas penelope|Mareca penelope}}
* [http://www.rspb.org.uk/birds/guide/w/wigeon/index.asp Wigeon at RSPB's Birds by Name]
* {{InternetBirdCollection|eurasian-wigeon-anas-penelope}}
* {{VIREO|Eurasian+Wigeon}}
* [http://www.ornithos.de/Ornithos/Feather_Collection/Anas_penelope/Anas_penelope.htm Feathers of Eurasian wigeon (''Anas penelope'')] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180304095618/http://www.ornithos.de/Ornithos/Feather_Collection/Anas_penelope/Anas_penelope.htm |date=2018-03-04 }}
* {{IUCN_Map|22680157|Mareca penelope}}
* {{BirdLife|22680157|Mareca penelope}}
* {{Xeno-canto species|Anas|penelope|Eurasian wigeon}}

{{Taxonbar |from1=Q28106837 |from2=Q26459}}

[[Category:Mareca|Eurasian wigeon]]
[[Category:Birds of Eurasia]]
[[Category:Birds described in 1758|Eurasian wigeon]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus|Eurasian wigeon]]
[[Category:Wigeons]]

Eurasian wigeon - Revision history

Ajay Kumar at 21:18, 30 August 2023