Some of you may have been unfortunate enough to come along on one of my bird walks when I break into song. These are songs with butchered lyrics that include bird names. It's like some tacky infomercial for 'Bird Songs of the 70's'. This album includes hits like Cinnamon Teal by Neal Young and Little Goose Poupe by the Beach Boys. And don't forget American Wigeon by The Guess Who, 'American Wigeon, stay away from me-e, American Wigeon, mama let me be-e, ...colored lights can hypnotize, sparkle someone else's eyes, now wigeon, I said get away-ay. American Wigeon, listen what I say-ay'. This is a limited time offer, not sold in stores (thankfully).
The last song may have been sung by the American Coots instead of The Guess Who because of the constant harassment they face from American Wigeons. If any bird has the right to say 'get away-ay' it would the American Coot. Wigeons are dabbling ducks meaning they coll
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wigeon pair |
ect food from on or near the waters' surface and also by grazing. However, one of their favorite foods is wild or water celery which grows in deeper parts of lakes and ponds. Dabbling ducks are very buoyant so they can only reach food as far as they can tip up and stretch down to get. You need to be a diver to reach the wild celery - that's where the coots come in. Coots are members of the rail family, but they look and act more like ducks than rails. They are also plant eaters and divers. They collect plants, including wild celery, from the bottom of the lake or pond and surface to eat their bounty. While this is happening it is not uncommon for an American Wigeon to come over and help themselves to part of the coot's meal. This behavior is known as kleptoparasitism or stealing food from someone else. At this time of the year, it is common to see coots and wigeons paired up on the ponds. The coots dive and the wigeons patiently wait on the surface for their coot to return. Then the both of them eat up the plant and the coot returns to the deep and the wigeon waits. It doesn't appear to be a very aggressive behavior, kind of like my grandma helping herself to food off my grandpa's plate. Dr. Townsend (1905) describes this behavior as follows: 'I have seen a flock of five baldpates (American Wigeons) eagerly following half a dozen American Coots that were frequently diving in a pond and bringing up weeds from the bottom. The baldpates gathered about the coots as soon as they emerged on the surface and helped themselves to the spoils, tipping up occasionally to catch some sinking weed. They seemed even to be able to perceive the coot coming up through the water, for they would begin to swim toward the spot just before the coot emerged. The coots appeared to take the pilfering as a matter of course; in fact they pilfered from each other, and continued to work for themselves and the poachers."
These birds are perhaps best known by their colloquial names poacher and baldpate as referenced in the quote above by Dr. Townsend. Poacher, of course, comes from their occasional role as a kleptoparasite. The other name, baldpate, is a reference to the white stripe on the forehead and crown of the male wigeon. Pate refers to the head or forehead and bald comes from the Old English balde meaning white. Other names also include white belly and blue-billed wigeon.
You can identify an American Wigeon even when it is tipped up feeding because of their stark white bellies. Other dabblers like mallards and gadwalls have a more off-white appearance to their bellies. Male wigeons have the distinct white stripe going up their forehead and also a striking metallic green stripe sweeping back from their eyes. This green is offset by their soft gray head and blue-gray bill with a black tip or nail. Male wigeons have a taupe or pinkish brown body color and a bright white patch just in
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wigeon on ice
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front of their black, pointed tail. Female wigeon, like other female waterfowl, are less dramatically patterned and colored, but still attractive in their own muted way. They share the males' gray head and brown to taupe body color, but they do not have the white forehead or green eye stripes. Their tail is pointed, but its brown instead of black and white like the males'. The blue-gray bill with the black nail can help you distinguish female wigeons from other female dabblers.
When you are viewing waterfowl this fall it should be easy to pick out the baldpate. In migration, quite a lot of them bless the Front Range. This duck can also be identified easily by its call. The American Wigeon has a breathy or wheezy three note laughing call like an old man with emphysema. Note the links at the end of the article to hear the wigeon. If you would like to see and hear the poacher please join us on a walk this fall. And I promise not to sing.
American Wigeon Photos, Videos, & Resource Links
· Cornell Lab of Ornithology, All About Birds: American Wigeon
· Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Macaulay Library: Female Foraging
· Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Macaulay Library: Male Foraging
· Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Macaulay Library: Pair Preening
· Delta Waterfall: American Wigeon
· Photos by Bill Schmoker: Wigeon Photos