AMERICAN WIGEON 

 ( Anas americana ) 



[DA: Araerikansk Pibeand , DU: Araerikaanse Sraient, EN: Baldpate, American Widgeon; 

 FR: Canard siffleur d'Amerique, GE: Nordamerikanische Pfiefente, IC: Ljoshofda- 

 ond, IT: Fischione americano, JA: Amerika hidori , NW: Blesand, Araerikansk lyn- 

 gand; PR: Pato, SP: Anade silbon americano, Pato americano, Pato lablanco, Pato 

 cabecilargo, Moniblanco; SW: Amerikansk blasand] 



GENERAL DISTRIBUTION 



The American Wigeon breeds across northern North America from the Bering 

 Sea and interior Alaska to Hudson Bay, and south to northeastern California, 

 Utah, Minnesota, and southern Manitoba (AOU 1957). In recent years there has 

 been an apparent expansion of the breeding range to the east, with scattered re- 

 ports of nesting from southern Ontario and Quebec, Prince Edward Island, Nova 

 Scotia, New Brunswick, and Maine (Palmer 1976a, Spencer 1977). From 1955 to 

 1973, the average North American breeding population was about 3,139,000 birds, 

 with an annual production of about 3,296,000 young (Bellrose 1976). In winter 

 these ducks occur along the Pacific coast of North America from southern Alaska 

 to Costa Rica and along the Atlantic seaboard from New England south through 

 much of Mexico and the West Indies, sometimes reaching South America (AOU 1957, 

 Bond 1971, Palmer 1976a). In winter the American Wigeon is a common bird along 

 the southeastern coast (Map 8). Recent estimates (Bellrose 1976) suggest win- 

 ter populations of 29,000 in Currituck Sound, North Carolina; 60,000 in the 

 marshes of South Carolina; 20,000 in Florida; and up to 300,000 in the extensive 

 coastal marshes of Louisiana, where even more are present in fall migration. 



SUSCEPTIBILITY TO OIL POLLUTION 



Although the American Wigeon occurs in coastal raarshes and estuaries, we 

 have no records of oiling in southeastern waters. The species is one of the 

 more terrestrial of the dabbling ducks (Palmer 1976a), and as a result, we be- 

 lieve this species will not be severely affected by offshore development in the 

 southeastern United States. They should be most adversely affected if oil were 

 to inundate shoreline and marshy areas where most are found. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 



1981 



Wishart, R. A. 1981. Wing-feather criteria for age separation of American 

 Wigeon. J. Wildl. Manage. 45: 230-235. 



Taxonomic note: Until 1973 this species was regarded by the AOU as Mareca 

 americana . 



153 



