Eurasian Wigeon

Taxonomic information

Common Name: Eurasian Wigeon

Latin Name: Anas penelope

Family: Anatidae

Description

Eurasian wigeon

An estimated 278,000 wigeon leave their breeding grounds in northern and central Europe each year to spend the winter on estuaries and other water bodies in the UK. These migratory birds augment the resident UK breeding population of between 300 and 500 pairs.

The first wigeon breeding records from within the National Park were in 1955. Since then there has been a regular breeding population of around 20 pairs, with over 30 pairs nesting in some years. The birds favour nesting sites that are in areas of thick vegetation close to shallow water bodies. The small moorland tarns that are scattered across the hill tops of the Dales provide an ideal breeding habitat for them. The adult birds are entirely herbivorous, and are not confined to the water like many of the diving duck species. As a result a few birds can be found nesting on boggy moorland areas where there are abundant insects for the young chicks to feed on.

Wigeon have been known to breed at a minimum of 11 sites in the Dales for the last ten years, but the remoteness of many of the sites makes regular surveying difficult. There is one specific site in the Dales which consistently supports between seven and 15 breeding pairs of wigeon. This figure equates to more than 1% of the national breeding population and therefore the site is of national importance.

Wigeon also breed at a number of sites in County Durham and Northumberland. Birds have also summered in Nidderdale, but to date there have been no confirmed breeding records from sites in this area. The birds that nest in the Dales are therefore at the southern edge of their breeding range in northern England. It is not known whether the birds that breed in the Dales are resident or move away from the area in winter. This is because in early autumn, it is not possible to distinguish between the breeding birds and the continental birds, which begin to arrive for the winter.