Chiloe Widgeon
The Chiloe Widgeon is a native of South America. The sexes look similar, with the females being slightly duller in color than the male. Males are normally larger than the hens.
All wigeons are grazers and will love an enclosure with lots of grass. This is a fairly calm species and they get along well with other waterfowl, making them suitable for mixed collections. They can cross breed with other widgeon species.
Chiloe would prefer a warm climate, however many are kept in northern collections with little trouble.
Breeding season is in Spring and begins in April in my region. During this time both the males and females can be very vocal.
My Chiloe will often trio and I commonly keep two hens for each drake.
Nest are built on the ground, my birds will readily use nest boxes. Clutches consist of 8-10 eggs that are incubated for about 25 days.
If the eggs are taken early in incubation our birds often produce a second clutch. The ducklings have no special needs and are easy to raise.