The American wigeon is a common and widespread dabbling duck in North America. Despite its widespread distribution, I only noticed it now. When I walked towards them far away on the shore, they would swim away. Although the breeding male has green feathers around its eyes and a cream colored cap on top of the head resembling a bald head, it’s not easy to see those features when they are far away. From the pictures that I took, it showed they often flocking together and also mixing with American Coots.
葡萄胸鴨是北美常見的涉水鴨。儘管它分佈廣泛，但我現在才注意到它。當我遠遠的在岸邊朝它們走去時，它們會遊走。雖然繁殖時的雄鴨它的眼睛周圍有綠色的羽毛，而且頭頂上有一個類似光頭的乳白色條紋，但是當它們離很遠時，要看到這些特徵並不容易。從我拍攝的照片中可以看出，它們經常成群結隊的，並與美洲骨頂混在一起。
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Notes 筆記
- The American wigeon also called a baldpate because the white stripe on top of the head resembles a bald man’s head. It is a species of dabbling duck found in North America.
- Mareca is from the Brazilian-Portuguese word Marréco for a small duck and americana refers to America.
- The American wigeon is a medium-sized bird. The breeding male is a striking bird with a mask of green feathers around its eyes and a cream colored cap running from the crown of its head to its bill. The hens are much less conspicuous, having primarily gray and brown plumage. Both sexes have a pale blue bill with a black tip, a white belly, and gray legs and feet.
- The American wigeon is a noisy species, and in the field can often be identified by their distinctive calls.
- The American wigeon is common and widespread. The majority of the population breeds on wetlands in the Boreal Forest and subarctic river deltas of Canada and Alaska. Although wigeon are found in each flyway, they are most numerous in the Pacific Flyway.
- This dabbling duck is migratory and winters farther south than its breeding range.
- In 2009, an estimated 2.5 million breeding wigeon were tallied in the traditional survey area. The American wigeon is often the fifth most commonly harvested duck in the United States, behind the mallard, green-winged teal, gadwall, and wood duck.
- The American wigeon is a bird of open wetlands. While on the water, wigeon often gather with feeding coots and divers, and are known to grab pieces of vegetation brought to the surface by diving water birds. For this reason, they are sometimes called “poacher” or “robber” ducks. Wigeon also commonly feed on dry land, eating waste grain in harvested fields and grazing on pasture grasses, winter wheat, clover, and lettuce. Having a largely vegetarian diet, most wigeon migrate in the fall well before northern marshes begin to freeze.
- The American wigeon is highly gregarious outside of the breeding season and will form large flocks.
- Female American Wigeons select a nest site on dry ground, often far from water (40–1,000 feet), in fields and grasslands with tall grasses or low shrubs.
- 葡萄胸鴨(綠眉鴨)，也被稱為赤頸鳧，因為頭頂白色條紋像一個禿頭。它是北美的一種涉水鴨。
- 學名中Mareca來自巴西-葡萄牙語單詞Marréco，是一隻小鴨子的意思，americana指美國。
- 葡萄胸鴨是中型鴨。繁殖時的雄鴨非常醒目，眼睛周圍有綠色的羽毛，從頭頂到喙有一個奶油色像個帽子的條紋。母鴨不那麼引人注目，主要是灰色和棕色的羽毛。雌雄兩者都有淡藍色的喙，黑色的尖端，白色的腹部，及灰色的腿和腳。
- 葡萄胸鴨是一種嘈雜的物種，在野外通常可以藉著它們獨特的叫聲來識別它們。
- 葡萄胸鴨很普遍而且分佈廣泛。大部分在加拿大和阿拉斯加的北方森林和亞北極河三角洲的濕地上繁殖。雖然在每個飛行路線中都可看見葡萄胸鴨，但在太平洋飛行路線中卻最多。
- 這種鴨子是遷徙的，冬天到比其繁殖範圍更南的地方。
- 在2009年，傳統調查區估計有250萬頭繁殖的葡萄胸鴨。葡萄胸鴨是美國第五大最常見的鴨，僅次於綠頭鴨(mallard)，美洲綠翅鴨(green-winged teal)，赤膀鴨(gadwall)和林鴛鴦(wood duck)。
- 葡萄胸鴨是一種在開放濕地的鴨。在水上時它們經常與覓食的白骨頂和潛水鴨在一起，而且它們也會搶奪潛水水禽帶到地表的植物。因此它們有時被稱為“偷獵者”或“強盜”鴨子。葡萄胸鴨也常在乾燥的土地上覓食，在收成的田地裡吃掉下的穀物，並吃草、冬麥、三葉草和生菜。由於大部分是吃素，因此秋天在北部沼澤開始結冰之前就遷移了。
- 在繁殖季節以外，葡萄胸鴨是非常喜愛群居的鴨，常會結成一大群。
- 雌性葡萄胸鴨在乾燥的地面上選擇巢穴，通常遠離水(40–1,000英尺)，在草叢茂密或灌木叢低的田野和草原上。
References 參考資料
- Wikipedia: American wigeon
- All about birds: American Wigeon
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