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Birds

Birds

Common name Eurasian wigeon
Scientific name Anas penelope
Type Waterbirds
Status Wintering

Medium sized duck (about 50 cm or 19.5 in), smaller than the Mallard. Males with a very distinctive plumage. Brown head with yellowish forehead, bi-coloured bill (black tip and bluish-grey remnant), pink breast, grey body, black anal area and white underparts. Brownish females with bi-coloured bill, too. Green speculum.

Habitats

Wetlands

Where it lives

Wetlands in open spaces, avoiding trees, with shallow and fresh water. With not very abundant emerged vegetation. Less demanding in winter.

How it lives

Species wintering in the province. It performs courtship and mate in the wintering areas, breeding from May. Nest on banks. Herbivorous feeding (roots, bulbs, rhizomes, leaves) of aquatic plants. Dabbling duck (it only submerges half body, tilting in the water).

Where it can be seen in Malaga

It can be watched in the mouth of the Guadalhorce and Vélez rivers and in the Fuente de Piedra and Campillos lagoons.

Curious facts

The Spanish name of this duck (“ánade silbón”) comes from the characteristic whistle that males emit, which helps to locate them before seeing them, and that consists of an initial acute tone that is quickly stopped.

Routes where it can be observed
Present
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Wintering Summer Resident Migration
Audios