Autumn Feathers: American Wigeon

When I first got into birding, the American Wigeon really impressed me.  I thought it was such a cool looking bird and it made funny sounds.  Then I discovered how abundant in winter these waterfowl are and I noted them for eBird, looked thru their flocks for Eurasian Wigeons, and largely ignored the American Wigeons.  Now that I am adding bird photography to my pasttime I am taking a second deeper and longer look at even the common and abundant birds.  Here are photos from a few Eagle, Idaho neighborhood ponds while I enjoyed observing Wigeon behavior.


Male - buffy forehead, dark green eye/head stripe, smooth color pattern on body.

 

Juvenile - slightly patterned flanks and dark feathers on upper parts

 

Males and females in the foreground foraging in the grass - a common sight.  Note how the adult female's flanks are more solid than the juvenile.  The grey-brown head lacks any trace of a future green head stripe.



After nibbling on grass, they move as a flock into the water and all take a sip...well, they can't actually sip or suck, so they get water in their bills and then tip their heads back to swallow as shown here.

 

Preening - I thought the fluffed-up feathers that are normally concealed looked kind of wren-pattern-like.



Grass foraging - I have seen flocks numbering 1000 birds in Boise area parks.



A handsome male American Wigeon among the autumn leaves.