Gadwall
Anas strepera
eBird describes the Gadwall like this: Fairly large duck with extensive range across Northern Hemisphere. Males are mostly gray with a black rear end and puffy head. Also look for small white wing patch in flight. Females are similar to Mallard, but note thinner bill, plainer face, orange line along the edge of the bill, and white wing patch in flight. Typically found in pairs or small flocks in shallow wetlands, ponds, or bays, sometimes mixed with other species of ducks. All About Birds provides this additional descriptive information about the Gadwall: In a world where male ducks sport gleaming patches of green, red, or blue, the Gadwall’s understated elegance can make this common duck easy to overlook. Males are intricately patterned with gray, brown, and black; females resemble female Mallards, although with a thinner, darker bill. We don’t tend to think of ducks as pirates, but Gadwall often snatch food from diving ducks as they surface. This widespread, adaptable duck has dramatically increased in numbers in North America since the 1980s.
I saw my first Gadwall on the morning of Friday, March 12, 2021, at Concepcion Park on the San Antonio River. While staked out near the Theo Street Bridge (I was attempting to see a continuing Blue Bunting), I saw a group of five Gadwall in the river near my location. I was happy to see this bird, which was new to me! Below are a couple of photos I took that morning.
“Cool Facts” about the Gadwall, from All About Birds:
- Gadwall sometimes steal food from American Coots and from other ducks.
- Gadwall have increased in numbers since the 1980s, partly because of conservation of wetlands and adjacent uplands in their breeding habitat through the Conservation Reserve Program and the North American Waterfowl Management Plan. Their habit of nesting on islands within marshes gives them some protection from predators.
- Female Gadwall produce an egg a day while they are laying their 7–12-egg clutches. To meet their demand for protein during this stressful time, female Gadwall eat more invertebrates than males during this period—in addition to using reserves of nutrients they’ve stored in their bodies during the winter.
- The oldest known Gadwall was a male, and at least 19 years, 6 months old. He was banded in Saskatchewan in 1962 and shot during hunting season in Louisiana in 1981.