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American Widgeon
Scientific Name - Anas americana
Identification Tips:
Length: 14 inches
Wingspan: 34 inches
Large dabbling duck
Blue bill with black nail
White secondary coverts (grayer in females) and green
speculum
White axillars
White belly
Juvenile similar to adult female
Adult male alternate:
Alternate plumage worn from fall through early
summer
White crown
Green post-ocular stripe
Streaked gray lower face and neck
Rusty breast and flanks
Dark brown back
White patch at rear portion of flanks
Black undertail coverts
Adult male basic:
Similar to adult female but usually retains rusty
flanks and white forewing
Adult female:
Blue bill with black tip
Mottled dark brown body plumage with rustier flanks
contrasting with paler head and neck
Dusky eye patch
Similar species:
Adult in alternate plumage is unmistakable. All plumages
distinguished from all other dabbling ducks (except
Eurasian Wigeon) by pale gray or white secondary coverts
in flight. At rest Wigeon have a distinctive steep
forehead and gently sloped rear part of the head,
as well as pale blue bills. The rare Eurasian Wigeon
is very similar in female, immature and eclipse male
plumages and is safely distinguished only in flight
by its gray, not white, axillars, and sometimes by
the lack of contrast between head and back plumage.
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