I’ve never had any trouble identifying female Eurasian Wigeon.
That should be the sort of prideful proclamation that precedes a tumble, but in fact, it’s a shame-faced confession. Put another way, I’ve never managed to find a female wigeon that I thought problematic.
And that, sadly, has nothing to do with skill or experience; it bespeaks rather a willingness to simply overlook any wigeon that doesn’t stick out conspicuously as one species or the other. I suspect that I’m not alone in this: even where Eurasian is relatively frequent among the flocks of Americans, as it is here in even the most urban parts of Vancouver, it’s just so much easier to look for a dark-headed female (or a drake!), ignoring the more subtle birds. And there must be more subtle birds.
If you’re interested in joining me in my resolve to start paying attention to female wigeon, have a look at a fine article by Jessie Barry and Cameron Cox; I’m not convinced that every character proposed there holds up for every bird, but they provide an excellent checklist of features to look at when examining a potentially difficult bird.
