Tweeters, The Eurasian Wigeon discussion has been interesting. However I want to correct a misstatement made by Wayne Weber
and throw out a few thoughts on this subject. For those of you interested in learning more about female wigeon identification you can check out this link:http://www.americanbirding.org/birding/v37n2p156.pdfIt may be a bit tacky to plug an article I co-authored, along with Jessie Barry, but it is the easiest thing
to find on the net that covers this subject fairly comprehensively that I am aware of. I will make
reference to ID points that are better explained in the article.Wayne Weber said:?I don't believe that it is possible to say that there are "far fewer femalesthan males" in any particular flock, because in my experience, most femaleEurasian Wigeon are not safely identifiable in the field. As you know, there are two color phases of female Eurasians. The "Rufousphase", which has a much more reddish head, certainly can be picked out inthe field, but the gray phase (which is more numerous) generally cannot.This is what Bellrose says in his waterfowl book, and it agrees with myexperience.? I?m not sure where Wayne got the information that gray phase Eurasian Wigeon are more numerous, but it
wasn?t from Bellrose. Bellrose states that there are two color morphs, but make no statement
about which is more common. In my research for the wigeon article all the evidence I found suggested
that gray morph are far less common than reddish birds, if the gray morph actually even exists.
I looked at a number of photos of big flocks of Eurasian Wigeon in Europe and all showed reddish female
to be the vast majority. A series of photos of female wigeon shot by hunters in the UK and the specimens
I examined at the American Museum of Natural History, Academy of Natural Science, and the Burke Museum
suggested the same thing. While I have less data from eastern Asia, the source of the the Eurasian Wigeons
found on the west coast, all eastern Russia specimens were reddish, not gray. The 5-6 specimens that seemed to match a ?gray phase? Eurasian Wigeon were all first-year females,
all adult females examined fell clearly into the ?red phase?. There seemed to be enough variation to suggest
that dull first year females constituted the ?gray phrase? while brighter first-year females and duller adult
females bridged the gap between ?gray phase? birds and the brightest, ?red phase? adult females. We did not
have a large enough sample size to determine this for certain, but I currently believe that dimorphism in
female wigeon is more of a myth than a fact.It is certainly true that some female Eurasian Wigeons blend into flocks of American Wigeon better than others.
There are, however, a suite of characteristic that can be used to identify these duller
Eurasian Wigeons in the field, whether you believe in ?gray phase? Eurasian Wigeon or not. These
characteristics include:1. Color of axillaries2. Wing pattern3. Amount of contrast between head and breast and between breast and flanks4. Color of outermost secondary5. Head size and shape6. Primary length in relation to tail length7. Pattern and extent of black flecking on the head. All these characteristics are explained fully in the article. In short, the statement
made by Wayne, ?most female Eurasian Wigeon are not safely identifiable in the field.? is
seriously misleading and drastically overstates the difficulty of this identification.
Particularly at this time of year, it is simple to find female Eurasian Wigeons. Look for a
male and then watch him to see which female he is paired with. If you watch a bird carefully,
pair bond relationships are quite clear. Once it is clear which birds are paired, check the female
for Eurasian traits. In my 4 winters in Washington the average male to female ratio was 3 to 1.
That ratio applies to King, Snohomish and Skagit counties and probably is not accurate farther south
or on the eastside.Despite the fact that hybrids occur, it is rare to see a male Eurasian Wigeon paired with a
female American. I have only seen a mixed pairs twice compared to several hundred pure Eurasian pairs.Finally, It seems clear that western Washington (north of Seattle) and southern coastal BC are major
winter/staging areas for Eurasian Wigeon. Given that Boundary Bay usually hosts more American Wigeon,
it seems likely that, on average, more Eurasian Wigeon are found in southern BC. Wayne?s CBC data seems
to support this conclusion. Since, however, birds are far less fussy about international borders than humans
are and since the areas we are speaking of are fairly close together, it seems likely this situation could flux
on a yearly or even monthly or daily basis depending upon a number of environmental conditions. While we
tend to think that waterfowl winter in a specific location, band recovery and radio tracking data suggests that
at least some waterfowl wander widely during the winter. It may not be possible to crown a specific location the
Eurasian Wigeon Capital as the capital may be changing regularly. Also there are reports in Bellrose that suggest
that we look a little farther north if we want to find the true Eurasian Wigeon Capital of North America. The Samish Flats however could possibly be the easiest place to view large numbers of Eurasian Wigeon.
Steve?s impressive count suggests this. Additionally, Jessie Barry and I once counted over 120 Eurasian Wigeon
scanning Padilla Bay from one location in late February. It certainly is a great place to bird.Cheers, Cameron CoxCameron_cox at hotmail.com







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