I know, I know, enough with the American Wigeon (Anas americana) photos already. Aren't one or two enough? Bear with me. It was on February 5th or 6th that I read on the Discord birding group app that a couple of birders had reported an American Wigeon and Common Merganser (Mergus merganser) present on January 30th at a location very near to my home. While not out of the realm of possibility, both of these birds at this location were a surprise. February 7th came and it was cold and brightly sunny. Especially for the wigeon, I knew there was a good chance it would still be present and I had not seen one in a while. I had something to do with my mother that morning and this site is located between where my mother lives and where I live. I packed my camera and upon leaving my mother's home I stopped by Ford Field park. I didn't know where along the river the birds were located but from a footbridge I saw a large cluster of Mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) just a little upstream and I started there. At first it was all Mallards. No sign of the Common merg or American Wigeon.
Then tucked against the bank opposite where I was standing I saw something different. My eyesight is okay but not great, so I was happy when it began swimming slowly away from the bank. Definitely an American Wigeon.
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Ah, it's a female. The sex of the bird had not been previously mentioned.
Then I questioned this. Is it a female?
I continued to photograph the wigeon. It was being calm and cooperative and came quite near. Even though it was sunny and my back was to the sun, more or less; more like over my left shoulder, I knew I was not getting the bird in good light.
The size difference between the wigeon and the mallards was notable and a good thing to see.
In all I took approximately twenty photos from which I've plucked these as being amongst the best. I knew that I would need to download the photos on my computer before I could truly study it for the purpose of trying to sex it.
But by the time I walked away from the bird to head downstream to see if anything else, like Common merg, was on the river - there wasn't - I had in mind that this bird was a male in non-breeding plumage.
Sibley is my go to guide. I could not match this bird with any of his illustrations. I looked on-line and also at a European field guide - neither of which were helpful for this bird. Based on the Sibley illustrations, focused especially on the buffy cheek and the white pocket-patch (Sibley calls it a hip-patch), I stood by my identification of a male bird in non-breeding plumage and posted it as such on both Discord and eBird.
My Discord post received an almost immediately response. "All Wigeon will currently be in breeding plumage fyi." I replied to this with "Hmmm. Interesting." This bird is certainly not my idea of either a male or female wigeon in breeding plumage. While I did put my photos on eBird, I don't know how to post photos to Discord, so I knew that the responder was simply making a general statement. But it bothered me and I felt that I should pursue it.
Yesterday, I emailed Allen Chartier with a shorter version of this story and rather than attach a bunch of photos I referenced the photos I posted on eBird. Allen is also on Discord and was able to see the Common merg (posted a great photo on eBird) on January 30th, but missed seeing the wigeon. He was leading an Audubon field trip along the St. Clair River yesterday and, after all that cold weather, was too tired to respond until this morning.
I didn't really know who to query about this bird and, truthfully, Allen was the only person who came to mind. This is because I have read his responses to other birders' queries and they are always clear and detailed. I received his reply this morning, (including the St. Clair River part), and it was clear and detailed. As follows: "That particular American Wigeon is problematic, in my opinion. While it is correct that they are not molting this time of year, many birders may not realize that molt is more variable than they realize. The patch of cream color in that bird's nape and, if it is present, some green on the cheek are male characteristics. Molt can be delayed if a bird is struggling with poor nutrition. So this could be a male that simply has not molted into full breeding plumage, and likely will not. Another possibility is that it is a female showing some male-like traits. This occurs in many species and seems to be associated with older birds. Female Baltimore Orioles with black throats are the most frequent example that I have seen. So, this could be an older female with male-like traits. It would be nice to see photos of that wigeon taken on a sunny day, but we haven't had very many of those recently."
I love Allen's response all the more for the learning it contains. In the future I'll look at these kinds of situations differently.
My original guess at sex identification was further influenced by a detail that I did not share on Discord or eBird and this is because I couldn't share it visibly. In my camera I could enlarge one of the photos to such an extent that a slight hint of green could be discerned on the back of the bird's head and neck. This could not be seen when I downloaded the photos on to my computer. Based on Allen's explanation this would now change my ID that this American Wigeon is a bird of ambiguous sex. Does it favor a male bird? Possibly. Or maybe an older female was also showing this hint of green.
I reopened my eBird post and edited my discussion and the sex identification for this wigeon as unknown. For me what's important about this is that details - in whatever form they are present - are important to understanding birds and birding.
