Taxonomy

Species ID	040500
Name	American Wigeon
Other Common Names
Category	04 Birds
Phylum
Subphylum
Class	Aves
Subclass	Neornithes
Suborder	Anseres
Family	Anatidae
Genus	Anas
Species	americana
Subspecies
References	1

Status

Status Code	Status Translation	References
3	Winter visitor - migrant.	9
5	Transient, present briefly as migrant.	9
5	Transient, present briefly as migrant.	3
3	Winter visitor - migrant.	3
15	Vulnerable in Belize	8
27	Rare: low density, unlikely to be seen, few localities.	8
31	Hunted - subsistence or commercial	8
95	U.S. Migratory Bird Treaty	6

Distribution

DISTRICT	References
Belize, Belize	4
Orange Walk, Belize	13

Administrative Unit	Occurrence	Abundance	Temporal	References
Private land, see comments	Sighting	Uncommon	March	13
Private land, see comments			Dry season (Jan-May)	5

ELEVATION Association	References
1-200 m	13
1-200 m	7

QUAD Distribution	References
17 45' to 18 00'; 88 45' to 89 00'	13
17 30' to 17 45'; 88 10' to 88 30'	4

Holdridge Life Zone Distribution	References
Subtropical moist	13
Subtropical moist	7

Comments on Distribution

9* Rare northern semideciduous moist forest.
   Rare coastal/low-lands savannas, inc. marshy areas.
   Rare mangroves lowlands & coastal beaches.
   Rare cayes inc. Ambergris.
5* BZ City oil terminal
3* Transient-Winter visitor, Rare in northern hardwood forests and coastal
   savannas.

Habitat Associations

Food Habits

Trophic

HERBIVORE/GRAZER

References on Trophic Level

10, 11

Lifestage	Food Item Consumed	Part of Food Item
Adult	Aquatic plants	Adult stage

Comments on General Food Habits

10* Grazes on land, eating mainly leafy vegetation; does not dive; tips up to feed in shallow water; in deeper water associates with coots or Ring-necked Ducks, robbing them of the aquatic plants they bring up; 11* Mostly feeds by grazing. For Tribe Anatini: Food mostly aquatic vegetation and grains.

References/Lifestage	Reference Numbers

Environmental Associations

References/Lifestage	Reference Numbers

Life History

Management Practices

References/Result	Reference Numbers

References

1  A.O.U. 1983. Checklist of North American Birds. 6th Ed.

2  A.O.U. 1985, 1987, 1989. 35th-37th Supplements.

3  Wood, D.S.,R. C. Leberman, and D. Weyer. 1986. Checklist of Birds of
   Belize. Carnegie Museum of Natural History Special Publication 12.

4  Miller, B. W., 1994. Belize Christmas Bird Counts, Twenty Year Summary.
   in prep.

5  Hallchurch, T.T., compiler. 1982. Exercise King Vulture Belize 23 Feb.-
   16 March.  Unpub. report for the British Army Bird Watching Society.

6  Title 50 Code of Federal Regulations, Subchapter B., Part 10.13: List
   of Migratory Birds.  U.S. Government Printing Office: 1985 0-488-794.
   (Lists all species of migratory birds protected by the Migratory Bird
   Treaty Act (16 U.S.C. 703-711).

7  Miller, B. W. 1997. Belize Christmas Bird Count Summary 1970-1995.
   Data from American Birds Vol. 28-50 including 1973-1996.

8  Miller, B.W., C.M. Miller. 1997. Avian Risk Assessment for Belize,
   Species at Risk and of Conservation Concern.  Report to Programme for
   Belize/TNC Wings of America Program.

9  Garcia, J., S. Matola, M. Meadows, and C. Wright. 1994. A Checklist of
   the Birds of Belize. WWF-US. 35p.

10 Stiles, F. G., A. F. Skutch. 1989. A Guide to the Birds of Costa Rica.
   Ithaca, NY. Comstock Publishing Associates, Ithaca, New York. pp. 92.

12 Howell, S. N. G., S. Webb. 1995. A Guide to the Birds of Mexico and
   Northern Central America. New York. Oxford University Press.
   pp. 164-165.

13 Valley, A. C. and T. Aversa. 1997. New and notworthy birds records from
   Belize including the first records of Chestnut-collared Swift
   Cypseloides rutilus. Bull. Brit. Orn. Club. 117(4):272-274.