>American Wigeons breed in Siberia.
>
>Gene

You must have information that I haven't seen, Gene. The latest book on
Birds of Russia (Knystautus 1993) calls American Wigeon a "vagrant,"
"recorded in the areas close to Alaska." In Birds of the USSR (Flint et al
1984), AMWI is listed as "recorded on the Komandorskiye Islands in 1883."

The status as outlined in Birds of Japan (Brazil 1991) is interesting. It
is an annual visitor, with 46-65 recorded each winter during the January
waterfowl counts of 1982-88, with a maximum of 10 at one location,
obviously less common than EUWI is in this hemisphere. Females are only
rarely reported, and a few hybrids have been observed. As might be
expected, AMWI are almost always seen in large flocks of EUWI.

There are vanishingly few ornithologists (and no birders) in those parts of
Russia adjacent to Japan.

Dennis Paulson, Director phone: (206) 756-3798
Slater Museum of Natural History fax: (206) 756-3352
University of Puget Sound e-mail: dpaulson at ups.edu
Tacoma, WA 98416