Wigeons and Gadwalls

     American wigeons and gadwalls are related, medium-sized duck species in the same genus in North America, therefore they have behaviors in common.  Both species are mostly vegetarians, taking food in fresh water and on land.  Drakes of both kinds are attractive in subdued, camouflaged ways.  And females of both  are basically brown, which blends them into their surroundings, protecting them from predators, including when they are setting on eggs and raising ducklings.   
     Wintering wigeons and gadwalls have several sources and techniques of getting food, which makes them successful.  Both kinds tip-up, with their tails pointing toward the sky, in shallow water to pull aquatic plants from the bottoms of ponds to consume.  However, both species also graze on the tender shoots of short grass, as do geese; something that other kinds of American ducks don't do, making wigeons and gadwalls unique in that way.  Wigeons and gadwalls are often among geese while they graze.  These two related duck species also shovel up grain lying in harvested fields in cropland, as do other species of puddling ducks.  And, most interestingly, wigeons and gadwalls steal food from coots and other kinds of ducks that dive underwater to dredge up aquatic plants to ingest on the surface.  When those diving birds pop up from the water, the wigeons and/or gadwalls are right on them to take some of that water vegetation from the rightful, working owners of it, again making the robbing wigeons and gadwalls unique, and showing their relatedness.
     Drakes of American wigeons and gadwalls are handsomely feathered through winter when we in the Lower 48 States are most likely to see them.  Wigeon males have chestnut-colored feathering on their chests and flanks, but are mostly grayish on top.  They have white over the top of their heads and an iridescent-green streak around each eye and joining each other on the back of the neck.  Hens are mostly chestnut-brown all over.  Gadwall drakes are mostly gray all over, with light-brown heads.  Females are brown all over, with darker markings.
     Female American wigeons nest on the ground under tall plants in marshes in Alaska, western Canada and the northwestern United States.  Drakes take no part in incubating eggs or raising ducklings.  In spring, each hen eats lots of invertebrates to be able to have protein to produce up to a dozen eggs in her clutch.  Ducklings also consume many invertebrates to get protein for growth.  And wigeons winter in the United States from New Jersey across the continent to California and south to Mexico and the Caribbean Islands.
     Female gadwalls hatch ducklings under grasses and reeds in marshes and around ponds in the prairies of southwestern Canada and northwestern United States.  Female and young gadwalls also ingest a lot of invertebrates for growth.  Gadwalls winter in small groups on ponds, particularly in farmland where they can find much vegetation to consume through that harshest of seasons.
     American wigeons and gadwalls are medium-sized, handsome ducks that have unique habits, especially grazing on grass like geese and relieving diving ducks and coots of the aquatic plants they bring to the surface of ponds to swallow.  Most of us see the attractive wigeon and gadwalls around farm ponds and other sluggish waters in winter when they often are mixed with other kinds of ducks,
causing pretty and intriguing gatherings of waterfowl that make the sting of winter less biting.