Eurasian wigeon

Mareca penelope

Group: Waterfowl
Size class: Small (under 10 kg)
Family: Anatidae

Range

Europe
Asia

Habitat

Wetland
Coast

Range

Countries it is found in

104 countries

Afghanistan
Albania
Algeria
Armenia
Austria
Azerbaijan
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Belarus
Belgium
Bermuda
Bhutan
Bosnia & Herzegovina
Bulgaria
Canada
China
Croatia
Cyprus
Czechia
Denmark
Egypt
Eritrea
Estonia
Faroe Islands

Range from:Wikipedia country bird lists, GBIF occurrence records — read 2026-08-05

Chapter 01

Overview

The Eurasian wigeon (Mareca penelope) is one of three living wigeons in the dabbling duck genus Mareca, common and widespread across its Palearctic range. Linnaeus described it in 1758 as Anas penelope. The epithet refers to a duck said to have saved Penelope when she was thrown into the sea — her name from the Greek for 'braid' and 'appearance', after the ruse she used to hold off suitors while Odysseus was away.

Chapter 02

Identification

A dabbling duck 42–52 cm long with a 71–80 cm wingspan, weighing 500–1,073 g. The breeding drake has grey flanks and back with a black rear end, a dark green speculum and a brilliant white patch on the upper wing that shows both in flight and at rest. The breast is pink, the belly white, and the head chestnut with a creamy crown. In eclipse plumage the drake looks much more like the female, which is the thing to be aware of outside the breeding season.

Chapter 03

Behaviour

A bird of open wetland — wet grassland or marsh with some taller vegetation. It usually feeds by dabbling for plant food or by grazing, which it takes to very readily. It nests on the ground, near water and under cover. Outside the breeding season it is highly gregarious and forms large flocks, joining flocks of American wigeon in the United States and hybridising with them.

On the table

Meat & cooking

Table grade 5 of 55/5

Sold as meat in a legal market
Has a named traditional dish
Published way to handle and cook it
Eaten in more than one country
No known health advisory

Traditional preparations

Roast wild duck: Wild duck is roasted fast and served pink; the breast is the cut, the legs being better braised or confited. Duck as food — Wikipedia
Salmis: The classic French treatment of wildfowl — briefly roasted, jointed, then finished in a sauce built from the carcass. Salmis — Wikipedia

Sources

Sources: Eurasian wigeon — Wikipedia — read 2026-08-05

Cross-reference