This Week's Bird: American wigeon

This Week’s Bird is the American wigeon. I came across an old newspaper article (The Hour, 1961) in which the writer discusses the “baldpate.” I had never heard that name before and I thought I knew all the ducks that would occur in New England. From the description, I figured it out that it was an American wigeon. The writer eventually writer: This is duck is also sometimes referred to as wigeon.

Funny how things change, even bird names.

The wigeon is a common duck to southern New England during migration in fresh and brackish water. They will stick with us as long as open water persists. Even though the photograph above doesn’t represent it, male wigeons have thick green arching stripes on their heads. The one above has a tan stripe.

So there you have it, This Week’s Bird: The American wigeon.

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