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Gadwall | Mareca strepera
Krakeend | Ánade friso
The Gadwall is a plainly marked dabbling duck that breeds across the northern hemisphere. In the guide area it winters mainly in northern and central Mexico, on lakes, reservoirs and marshes; south of Mexico it is rare.
Voice
The male gives a short, hoarse errp, often several times in succession, and a high whistle; the female quacks like a Mallard, but higher and more nasal, in a descending series kwek-kwek-kwek. Mostly silent in winter.
Recording: David Darrell-Lambert — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · converted to mono · xeno-canto
Identification
46–57 cm, slightly smaller and slimmer than Mallard, with a steep forehead and a fairly angular head. The male is grey, finely scaled and vermiculated on breast and flanks, with a uniform black rear end and a dark bill; at close range the pattern is finer than it appears from afar. The female is mottled brown, with a thin, dark bill with orange sides and a white belly. In flight both sexes show a small, sharp white patch on the inner wing, bordered in the male by black and chestnut. Juveniles resemble the female.
Confusion species
Females of Mallard Anas platyrhynchos and Mexican Duck Anas diazi have a broader bill with a dark saddle or a yellow tone, a blue speculum with white or narrow borders and no white wing patch. The female American Wigeon Mareca americana has a small blue-grey bill with a black tip, a greyer head and warm orange-brown flanks. The female Northern Pintail Anas acuta is slimmer, with a longer neck and tail and a plain grey bill.
Habitat
Lakes, reservoirs and ponds with water plants, freshwater marshes, saline lakes on the plateau and sheltered parts of coastal lagoons. It feeds mainly on submerged plants and algae, dabbling or picking from the surface while swimming.
Where the bird is most at home, classified by the vegetation units of Mexico and Central America.
Range and movements
Winters in northern and central Mexico, from Baja California, Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León and Tamaulipas across the plateau to Jalisco, Michoacán, Guanajuato and central Mexico, and along the Gulf coast to Veracruz; scarce further south. Rare in Central America, with a few records. Breeds in North America, mainly in the prairies, and in Eurasia.
- Winter visitor (c. Oct–Mar)
- dark = core range, pale = thinly spread
How and when to look
Lakes and reservoirs in northern Mexico and on the plateau, among flocks of wigeon and shovelers; the white wing patch on take-off and the black rear end of the male are the best features.
Conservation status
Not threatened globally. The North American population has increased strongly since the 1960s. In the guide area a fairly common winter visitor in northern Mexico.
Scientific name
Mareca strepera | (Linnaeus, 1758)
Linnaeus described the species in 1758 as Anas strepera; because it was later moved to another genus, the author and year stand in brackets. The genus Mareca was introduced in 1824 by Stephens. Mareca comes from the Portuguese marreco, a word for a small duck. strepera is Latin for 'noisy', from strepere 'to make a din', after the rattling call. The specimen the first description was based on came from Sweden.