Gadwall Mareca strepera x Eurasian Wigeon Mareca penelope hybrid

Both species were formerly placed in the genus Anas.

Gadwall x Eurasian Wigeon hybrid, Whitlingham Country Park (Norfolk, UK), 6th March 2011

This female was at a site popular with birds released for shooting, many of which were Eurasian Wigeon, Gadwall and Northern Pintail. It appeared to be paired to a drake Pintail and this pairing may have been responsible for a bird at the same site that showed characteristics consistent with a (Gadwall x Eurasian Wigeon) x Northern Pintail trigen. Unexpectedly, female Gadwall x Eurasian Wigeon hybrids often show a pink bill.

Gadwall x Eurasian Wigeon hybrid, Leathes Ham, Lowestoft (Suffolk, UK), 11th February 2012

Gadwall x Eurasian Wigeon hybrid (with Gadwall), Leathes Ham, Lowestoft (Suffolk, UK), 8th November 2014

For comparison, here are photos of the parent species.

Gadwall, Salthouse (Norfolk, UK), 16th April 2011 and Eurasian Wigeon, Buckenham (Norfolk, UK), 1st January 2010

For more photos of these species follow the links below:

• Gadwall
• Eurasian Wigeon