Grazing Wigeon

March 2024 American Wigeons are early season spring migrants through southern Ontario. One morning in mid-March I noticed a large flock feeding in a small shallow pond at a local marsh. The following morning I returned well before first light and set up in my floating blind. As I waited in the pre-dawn darkness, more than a hundred Wigeons, Northern Pintails and Ring-necked Ducks flew into the pond. At one point this young male Wigeon climbed onto a nearby submerged log and grazed on long strands of watermilfoil. It was a thrill to be close to him and to experience him going about his business as usual. A unique physical trait of American Wigeons is their short and narrow bill structure similar to geese. This makes them highly adapted to grazing on aquatic and upland plants.