Wigeon  (Anas penelope)

The wigeon is a medium-sized duck with a well-known whistling call - ‘wheeooo’ - familiar to all who have witnessed their huge winter flocks on the fens and coastal marshes of Norfolk. Drakes (males) in breeding plumage have grey backs, white bellies and pink chests. The head is chestnut in colour with a buff forehead, while the tail is predominantly black. After moulting, when the plumage is said to be in ‘eclipse’, the drakes resemble the females, which are grey or buff-coloured birds with a white underside. The drakes are rather more rufous than the females, however. Juveniles look very similar to females.