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American Wigeon | Mareca americana
Amerikaanse smient | Silbón americano
The American counterpart of Eurasian Wigeon, which crosses the Atlantic as a vagrant. In the region it is known only from Morocco, where seven records have been made so far, the latest of three birds together near Oualidia in December 2024.
Voice
The male gives a three-note whistle, whee-whew-whew, softer and less piercing than Eurasian Wigeon; the female a low growl.
Recording: Valerie Heemstra — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · converted to mono · xeno-canto
Identification
The size of a Eurasian Wigeon, with the same rounded head and short blue-grey bill with a black tip and black basal edge. The male has a grey-speckled head with a white forehead and a broad glossy green band from the eye to the nape, pinkish-brown breast and flanks and a white wing panel. The female is greyish-brown with a greyer, heavily speckled head contrasting with the orange-brown flanks, and often a dark patch around the eye. In flight the pure white axillaries and central underwing coverts are the best feature in both sexes.
Confusion species
Male Eurasian Wigeon (Mareca penelope) has a chestnut head with a creamy-yellow forehead and grey flanks; the female has a browner head without strong contrast and grey axillaries. Hybrids between the two occur and show a mix of features, such as a greenish eye band on a rufous head.
Habitat
Lagoons, saltpans, estuaries and grassy lake shores, usually among flocks of Eurasian Wigeon.
Where the bird is most at home, classified by the habitats of North Africa and the Middle East.
Range and movements
Seven winter records in Morocco, mainly along the Atlantic coast, as at the Oualidia saltpans. Not established with certainty elsewhere in the region. Breeds in Alaska and Canada south to the northern United States and winters from the United States to Central America and the Caribbean; reaches western Europe every year.
How and when to look
In Morocco from December to February, search the wigeon flocks at the lagoons of Oualidia, Sidi Moussa and Merja Zerga. Look for a male with a white forehead and a green band behind the eye; with a female, the white axillaries in flight are decisive.
Conservation status
Not threatened. In the region a vagrant that does not originate there; in uncertain cases hybrids with Eurasian Wigeon must be ruled out.
Scientific name
Mareca americana | (Gmelin, 1789)
Gmelin described the species in 1789 as Anas americana; because it was later moved to another genus, the author and year stand in brackets. The genus Mareca was introduced in 1824 by Stephens. Mareca comes from the Portuguese marreco, a word for a small duck. americana is Latin for 'American', after the North American breeding range. The specimen the first description was based on came from Louisiana and New York.