American Widgeon
The American Widgeon is to all intents the New World equivalent of the European Wigeon. In size and structure the two species are almost exactly the same. The American Widgeon or baldpate is widespread throughout much of north America.
The male in breeding plumage will have pinkish - brown breast and flanks sides of the head and neck will be gray and freckled with dark mottling he is also marked with a whitish forehead crown, and a green band extending from back of the eye over the sides of head. This green marking resembles that of a greenwing teal male. The female American widgeon looks much like the female European widgeon.
Like all Widgeons these birds like to graze and would prefer an enclosure with lots of grass.
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American Widgeons are not a particularly aggressive species, although pairs may act somewhat aggressive during breeding season, they are still quite suitable for the mixed collection.
Crosses have been documented between the America and European widgeon and these two species should be kept separate.
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Breeding season begins in the spring, clutches consist of 7-9 eggs and are incubated for about 23-25 days. The ducklings are easy to raise and present no special concerns.
We currently keep and raise the Blonde color mutation of the American Widgeon which is a lighter version of the original color. We have been working with this color since 2012. At the time of this writing this color mutation is still quite rare and we do not raise very many of these birds.
Picture below a Blonde American Widgeon drake Pictured above a regular colored drake and a blonde hen.
