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Gadwall
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| © Chuck
Gordon Courtesy of eNature |
Species
description provided by eNature
Description
18-21" (46-53 cm). Male is a medium-sized grayish duck with
white patch on hind edge of wing, black rump, and sandy brown head.
Female mottled brown, with white patch on hind edge of wing.
Voice
Utters duck-like quack; also chatters and whistles.
Habitat
Freshwater marshes, ponds, and rivers; locally in salt marshes.
Nesting
9-11 cream-white eggs in a down-lined nest of grass, usually hidden
near water but sometimes in upland fields.
Range
Breeds from southern Alaska, British Columbia, and Minnesota south
to California and western Texas; occasionally in East. Winters in
much of United States. Also in Old World.
Discussion
This species has the widest range of any duck, breeding almost throughout
the North Temperate Zone and is abundant in winter in southern marshes.
Often considered drab, the male Gadwall is a handsome duck clad
in soft pastel grays and tans. This species is one of the dabbling
ducks; it feeds by tipping forward so that the tail sticks up as
it reaches for plants on the bottom.
