By Mariano Gómez · Updated on 11 October 2026

Birds

Eurasian Wigeon, the whistling duck with the chestnut head that spends the winter with us

Mareca penelopeHear its song0:29

Photo gallery of the Eurasian Wigeon

Identification of the Eurasian Wigeon

The Eurasian Wigeon is a medium-sized, compact-looking duck, with a short neck, a slightly pointed tail and a rather small bill, greyish in both sexes and somewhat darker in females. The male in breeding plumage wears a showy livery in which the chestnut head and neck stand out, with the forehead and crown creamy yellow, the breast pink and the pale grey back finely vermiculated. The underparts are whitish, the rear black and the speculum green. The female is brownish, slightly reddish, and looks very like the females of other dabbling ducks, although she can be told by the green speculum, a little duller than in the male, and above all by the small greyish bill. The juvenile resembles the female, but with more reddish plumage.

Male in breeding plumage

• Chestnut head and neck, with creamy-yellow forehead and crown.
• Pink breast, pale grey vermiculated back, black rear and green speculum.

Female and young bird

• Brownish, slightly reddish colouring, with a somewhat duller green speculum.
• Small greyish bill; the juvenile has more reddish plumage.

Habitat and distribution of the Eurasian Wigeon

It is distributed across all of northern Eurasia, with other breeding centres in Iceland, the British Isles and the Baltic coasts. In winter it settles on the coasts of western Europe, the Mediterranean basin, southern Asia and, to a lesser extent, sub-Saharan Africa.

In Spain it is present as a winter visitor throughout the country: peninsula, archipelagos, Ceuta and Melilla. A notable contingent arrives in winter and spreads preferably along the whole coast, with the largest concentrations in the Guadalquivir marshes, the Ebro delta, the Albufera of Valencia, the Cantabrian coasts and the Balearic Islands. To these coastal areas are added many inland lagoons and reservoirs, above all in Aragón, Extremadura and Castilla-La Mancha, where a good number of birds settle.

In the breeding season it prefers shallow fresh water with not too much emergent vegetation. In winter it occupies a great number of environments, preferring intertidal zones, estuaries and coastal lagoons, although it is also frequent on inland lagoons, reservoirs and flooded meadows.

European populations are mostly migratory and spend the winter mainly in the British Isles, France and Spain. Our country receives birds from the Scandinavian countries, Iceland and Siberia that begin to arrive at the end of summer and peak in October, and the return to the breeding areas takes place in mid-March.

Etymology of the Eurasian Wigeon

According to Wikipedia, Linnaeus described it in 1758 under the name «Anas penelope». «Anas» is the Latin word for «duck», and «penelope» alludes to a duck that, according to legend, saved Penelope when she was thrown into the sea; its name comes from the Ancient Greek «pḗnē», «braid», and «óps», «appearance». After a 2009 study five species of wigeon were moved to the genus «Mareca», which had been revived. In other languages it is called «ànec xiulador eurasiàtic» in Catalan, «pato asubiador común» in Galician, «ahate txistularia» in Basque and «Eurasian wigeon» in English¹.

Population of the Eurasian Wigeon

The 2021 European Red List of Birds estimates some 451,000–733,000 Eurasian Wigeons, with a decreasing trend. In Spain it is a winter visitor, and according to the Third Atlas of Breeding Birds in Spain the average of its population between 1997 and 2016 was 38,841 birds.

The 2021 Red Book of the Birds of Spain considers it Near Threatened, because its population trend is negative but not strong enough to classify it as Vulnerable. Like most ducks, its main threat is habitat loss, caused above all by the acidification of waters and the decline of wetland vegetation.

Nest of the Eurasian Wigeon

It does not breed in Spain. In its breeding areas, the nest is usually placed on a lake shore, sheltered by a bush, and consists of a shallow hollow, surrounded by grasses, leaves and twigs and lined with down.

Courtship and breeding of the Eurasian Wigeon

It does not breed in Spain, but courtship begins at the end of winter, still in the wintering areas. Once the pair has formed, they head back to the breeding territories, where they arrive around the beginning of May. The clutch consists of eight to nine creamy eggs, sometimes up to 12, incubated for 24 or 25 days and hatching simultaneously. The chicks can feed themselves a few hours after hatching and, after 40–45 days, towards the end of August, their development is complete.

Diet of the Eurasian Wigeon

Basically vegetarian, it feeds on leaves, roots, bulbs or rhizomes, which it gets by grazing on the water’s edge or in flooded meadows, for which it has a short, pointed bill, perfectly adapted to cutting vegetation. Sometimes it also upends in the water, that is, it puts its head and neck down to reach submerged plants.

Curious facts about the Eurasian Wigeon

It is a duck widely distributed across northern Eurasia and exclusively a winter visitor in our country, and recalls that it owes its Spanish common name to the males’ «tuiiuuu» whistle¹. EURING lists a wigeon ringed in Great Britain and Ireland that lived 25 years and 3 months.

The Eurasian Wigeon in Cabañeros

The habitat pages of this website do not mention it, and we have found no other published source about it in the Park, although Castilla-La Mancha is among the regions with inland lagoons and reservoirs where a good number winter¹. GBIF.org records 15 observations of the Eurasian Wigeon in Cabañeros and its surroundings.

Where to see the Eurasian Wigeon in Cabañeros

In Cabañeros and its surroundings, from October to March, on reservoirs and lagoons of open water and in flooded meadows.

When

From October to March: it is exclusively a winter visitor; it arrives from the end of summer, peaks in October, and leaves in mid-March.

What time

By day, grazing on the banks or swimming.

Where

On inland lagoons, reservoirs and flooded meadows, and on estuaries and coastal lagoons along the coast.

What to look for

Look for the chestnut head with the male's yellow crown and the white wing patch; listen for its «tuiiuuu» whistle.

Videos of the Eurasian Wigeon

Similar species to the Eurasian Wigeon

Gadwall

Mareca strepera

How to tell them apart

It is not clearly similar¹. It is another duck of the same genus, «Mareca».

Photo: Tsyganov Sergey, CC0

Eurasian Teal

Anas crecca

How to tell them apart

It is not clearly similar¹. It is another duck of the dabbling duck family, with a chestnut head in the male.

Photo: Jacek Halicki, CC BY-SA 4.0

Other birds

Bibliography

• Jiménez García-Herrera, José. (2017). Aves de Cabañeros y su entorno. Madrid, Spain: Ecohábitat.
• SEO Birdlife - Sociedad Española de Ornitología
• https://es.wikipedia.org/
• Hume, Rob. (2016). Guía de campo de las Aves de España y Europa. Barcelona, Spain: Ediciones Omega