Eurasian Wigeon at Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge
A male Eurasian Wigeon has been mixing company with American Wigeons and other birds at Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge for the last week or so.
I spotted the bird, initially reported to the Cayuga Birds birding listserv, during an impromtu stop at MNWR on my way back from Ithaca, NY.
I showed up with my bins and scope and started looking. I asked the birder next to me whether anything was special out there–I had zero gen on the site as I hadn’t been monitoring the listserves. The woman told me she was trying to find the Eurasian Wigeon she’d had and then lost about 15 minutes ago.
Male Eurasian Wigeon (right), Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge, NY, March 20, 2010
Scanning the ducks, I tried to recalled the key field marks I’d learned last year when I made an unsuccessful attempt to find a Eurasian Wigeon that appeared on Conesus Lake. The Eurasian resembles the American Widgeon, but the male’s bright cinnamon head, topped with a cream stripe, and its finely vermiculated gray back and sides help distinguish the two. For more identification tips, please see the All About Birds or Ducks Unlimited websites.
It didn’t take too long to spot the bird: it’s cinnamon head was flaming in the sun. The woman and I enjoyed long looks at the bird as it floated across the pond, then tucked our scopes over our shoulders and left.
Male Eurasian Widgeon on right.
Though I felt like rushing home to my boys who I missed so much, I was glad I took 30 min to stop and bird so I could add Eurasian Widgeon to my life list. This is yet one more reason to believe:
When In Doubt, Go Birding.
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I bird, I write, and I help produce websites. I am a writer and web communications consultant based in Rochester, New York.Comments (11)
Links to this Post
- A Weekend in Ithaca, NY | Birds, Words, & Websites | March 22, 2010
- Have Fun in the Sun on the Outer Banks of North Carolina | March 28, 2010
Nice blog post! I saw my first American Wigeon in Lancashire, England the other week… maybe they were on an exchange scheme!
Thanks, Pete. Exchange is right.
Eurasian Widgeons over here are a commonly rare occurrence, if you will. That is, they don’t belong here but they do show up and experienced birders aren’t surprised by it.
I just found this 1984 article in Journal of Biogeography that states:
“There are many records of Palearctic breeding waterfowl wintering in the Nearctic, and vice-versa. This trans-hemispheric exchange has apparently increased in the past two or three decades. The most frequent Palearctic water-fowl species visiting the Nearctic is the Eurasian wigeon (Anas penelope L.). Records of this species in North America are examined for the period 1947-81. There has been a spectacular increase in wigeon records since 1966 in western North America. The Pacific flyway, used as a wintering area by Siberian breeding birds, now accounts for 90% of Christmas Bird Count records in American Birds. Atlantic flyway records, provided mainly by Icelandic breeding birds, have remained static or marginally declined. Analysis suggests that these changes are largely independent of variations in observer effort and recording locations. Other waterfowl show similar patterns. The evidence is strong that wigeon, along with other members of the Anatidae, are exhibiting a recent upward trend in the long-established interchange between the Nearctic and Palearctic. The causes of this trend are uncertain.”
Wonder which of our species are commonly rare over by you?
Laura
BTW: The URL for that paper is:
http://www.jstor.org/pss/2844773
one of my favorite waterfowl – congrats. laura!
I knew we should have blasted up to MNWR after Stewart Park on Saturday! I’m hoping to make a run up this week to check out what else migration is offering.
-Mike
@Courts, thanks, sweetie!
@Mike: Should be a great week for that. I heard my first of year Song Sparrow there today. Didn’t look for much else as I was in a hurry to get back home–you know how that is. Was great spotting that Great Horned Owl with you and the gang, and I hope to post some pix, even though they are less than stellar. It’s the company and the experience that counts!
Yeah, we have quite a few American species that are, as you say, “Commonly Rare”. American Wigeon is one of them, as is Pectoral Sandpiper, White-rumped Sandpiper, American Golden Plover, Green-winged Teal, Ring-necked Duck and Surf Scoter. They’ll cause a bit of local excitement, but probably wouldn’t get many the twitchers travelling from too far away.
Britain does OK for American vagrants in comparison to the rest of Europe, due its location.
Interesting to know, Pete.
One of the best things about social media such as Facebook, Twitter, and blogs is the ability to connect with birders all over the world and expand our perspective on the world’s birds. One may read this in a book or see it on TV, but it sticks much better when you travel there or hear it from a “friend.”
Thanks for writing.
I had never even heard of the American Widgeon lol.