The American Wigeon is a species of dabbling duck that lives in parts of North America. These ducks are migratory and are sometimes found far outside of their normal range.
Male American Wigeons in breeding plumage have shiny green head feathers with a cream-colored stripe running from the bill to the crown. This gives them a "bald" appearance which is why they are sometimes called by another name: Baldpate. They are dabbling ducks, feeding on vegetation grazed from the bottom of shallow bodies of water. They are primarily vegetarian.
The American Wigeon has a very large natural range, and has a conservation status of Least Concern as of June 2013.
The American Wigeon is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List and was last assessed in 2012 by BirdLife International. This species has an extremely large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion (Extent of Occurrence <20,000 km2 combined with a declining or fluctuating range size, habitat extent/quality, or population size and a small number of locations or severe fragmentation). The population trend appears to be stable, and hence the species does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population trend criterion (>30% decline over ten years or three generations). The population size is extremely large, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population size criterion (<10,000 mature individuals with a continuing decline estimated to be >10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern.
Happy Independence Day to our American readers! Our 2013 Bonanza rolls on -- we're adding new birds each day in July until we reach our 500th Birdorable species! Today's Bonanza bird is the American Wigeon. Male American Wigeons have beautiful breeding plumage,... Read more »
