Species of the Month: Wigeon Mareca penelope (January 2025)

The Wigeon Mareca penelope is a familiar duck that winters in the UK in important numbers. Most of these birds travel from Iceland, Scandinavia and Russia, and numbers usually peak in December and January. A small breeding population does exist in isolated well-vegetated lochs in the Highlands and Pennines, and birds have occasionally bred in SW Scotland.

Wigeon are mostly herbivorous and eat a wide range of aquatic and terrestrial plants. They are notable for their distinctive whistling call which you can listen to on the British Bird Songs website.

They can seen around much of the areas’ coast and estuarine habitats, often grazing around the fringes of wetlands. Good places to see large numbers are Caerlaverock, Wigtown Bay, Loch Ryan, Hunterston, the Irvine/Garnock Estuary & Pow Burn. Smaller numbers can be found on many inland waterbodies.

Malcolm Haddow

SWSEIC Support Officer