Mareca americana
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~60% in a week ~90%
The American wigeon (Mareca americana), also known as the baldpate, is a species of dabbling duck found in North America. Formerly assigned to Anas, this species is classified with the other wigeons in the dabbling duck genus Mareca. It is the New World counterpart of the Eurasian wigeon.
The American wigeon was formally described in 1789 by German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it with all the other ducks, geese, and swans in the genus Anas and coined the binomial name Anas americana. Gmelin based his description on Edme-Louis Daubenton's hand-colour plate of "Le Canard Jensen, de la Louisiane" and Thomas Pennant's description of the "American wigeon" in his Arctic Zoology. Pennant had been sent a specimen from New York. The American wigeon is now placed with the Eurasian wigeon and three other dabbling ducks in the genus Mareca that was introduced in 1824 by the English naturalist James Francis Stephens. The name of the genus comes from the Portuguese word Marréco for a small duck. The species is considered to be monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.
An alternative common name is... Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Anchorage | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Ciudad Juárez | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 3 | Mesa | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Tijuana | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 5 | Calgary | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 6 | Vancouver | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 7 | Seattle | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Los Angeles | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | San Diego | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Las Vegas | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | National Zoological Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Sedgwick County Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Dallas Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Slimbridge Wetland Centre | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 5 | Cologne Zoological Garden | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 6 | Cleres Zoological Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 7 | Beacon Hill Children's Farm | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 8 | Cologne Zoo Aquarium | 🇩🇪 Germany |
Possible
About 30% of wildlife watchers report an American Wigeon sighting in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park on a given day, based on 45 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 15th most-seen of the 93 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 60%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May and June
In those months about 40% of wildlife watchers report an American Wigeon in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park on a given day, against about 20% in February–April and July–August, the lowest months. October to January have too few records to rate.
Between noon and 3 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most American Wigeon sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 45 parks where we can rate American Wigeon sightings, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park ranks 2nd at about 30%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Elk Island National Park (Canada, about 30%).
Same family: Anatidae
The closest relatives of the American Wigeon that you can see in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park (family Anatidae, Ducks, Geese, and Swans) are Green-winged Teal (about 30%), Trumpeter Swan (about 30%) and Mallard (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the American Wigeon is recorded against all the birds logged in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park (45 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
