Fischione eurasiatico

I maschi in riproduzione sono belli e distintivi con testa riccamente marrone-rossastra, fronte color camoscio, corpo grigio perlaceo e petto rosato. In volo, si cerchino grandi macchie alari bianche. Le femmine sono complessivamente di un marrone caldo più semplice, con un piccolo becco chiaro. Molto difficile da distinguere dalla femmina del Fischione americano; si noti la testa marrone più calda nel Fischione eurasiatico con poco contrasto tra testa, petto e fianchi. Si cerchino anche le parti inferiori delle ali grigiastre e sporche, non bianco brillante, in volo, ma questo può essere difficile da giudicare, specialmente a distanza. Diffuso e comune in Eurasia, si riproduce alle latitudini settentrionali e sverna a sud fino all'Africa centrale e al Sud-est asiatico. Tipicamente in stormi su laghi e zone umide, spesso pascolando in campi vicini. Visitatore invernale regolare in Nord America, specialmente sulla costa occidentale, di solito in numeri molto piccoli tra stormi di Fischioni americani.

Identificazione

This dabbling duck is 42–52 cm (17–20 in) long with a 71–80 cm (28–31 in) wingspan, and a weight of 500–1,073 g (1.102–2.366 lb). The breeding male has grey flanks and back, with a black rear end, a dark green speculum and a brilliant white patch on upper wings, obvious in flight or at rest. It has a pink breast, white belly, and a chestnut head with a creamy crown. In non-breeding (eclipse) plumage, the drake looks more like the female. The female is light brown, with plumage much like a female American wigeon. It can be distinguished from most other ducks, apart from American wigeon, on shape. However, that species has a paler head and white axillaries on its underwing. The female can be a rufous morph with a redder head, and a gray morph with a more gray head.

Tassonomia

The Eurasian wigeon was described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae under the binomial name Anas penelope. Anas is the Latin word for "duck", and penelope refers to a duck that was supposed to have rescued Penelope when she was thrown into the sea. Her name derives from Ancient Greek πήνη pene, "braid" and ὤψ ops "appearance", from the ruse she used to deter suitors while her husband Ulysses was absent.

Nome scientifico

Mareca penelope

Autorità

(Linnaeus, 1758)

Ordine

Anseriformi

Famiglia

Anatidae

Genere

Mareca

Areale e habitat

It breeds in the northernmost areas of Europe and the Palearctic. It is the Old World counterpart of North America's American wigeon. It is strongly migratory and winters further south than its breeding range. It migrates to southern Asia and Africa. In Great Britain and Ireland, the Eurasian wigeon is common as a winter visitor, but scarce as a breeding bird in Scotland, the Lake District, the Pennines and occasionally further south, with only a handful of breeding pairs in Ireland. It can be found as an uncommon winter visitor in the United States on the mid-Atlantic and Pacific coasts. It is a rare visitor to the rest of the United States except for the Four Corners and the southern Appalachians.

Areale riproduttivo

PAL : n Eurasia

Areale non riproduttivo

AF and n OR

Migrazione

Complete migrants