Gadwall

The Gadwall (Anas Strepera) widespread over much of the Holarctic and their discontinuous range is separated by more than a thousand miles. They are elegant and slender ducks with steep foreheads and delicately rounded heads. Gadwall (Anas Strepera) are the only northern puddle ducks with distinctive white patches embellishing the inner secondaries. They are normally uttering short, deep grunts, chuckling croaks or rasping quacks. Essentially continental, middle-latitude, lowland Gadwalls (Anas Strepera) are partial to open terrain that features lakes and marshes that support extensive reed cover. Mixing freely with other ducks they tend not to concentrate into large gatherings except during migration or the late summer molt. Aquatic vegetation makes up the majority of the Gadwall's (Anas Strepera) diet. As a result, they are often found feeding far from the shoreline, in deeper water than most other dabbling ducks. They feed with head submerged. Gadwall (Anas Strepera) up-end to feed on leafy portions of pondweed, naiad, wigeon grass, water milfoil and algae, as well as the seeds of pondweed, smartweed, bulrush and spike rush. They also feed on aquatic invertebrates, such as crustaceans, midges, tadpoles, frogs and small fish. They are proficient divers and their flash is not tasty due to a varied diet. They are also capable walkers and may graze ashore even to a great distance from water. Gadwall (Anas Strepera) arrive on the breeding grounds already paired in April, eggs are often not laid until 3-4 weeks later. Gadwall (Anas Strepera) breed near seasonal and semi-permanent wetlands, mainly in the shortgrass, tallgrass and mixed prairie regions of the United States and Canada. Substantial numbers also breed in wetland habitats of the Great Basin. Gadwall (Anas Strepera) tend to begin breeding later than most ducks. Female Gadwall (Anas Strepera) nest in fields and meadows, and on islands and dikes in wetlands, and lay an average of 7-12 eggs.It nests on the ground, often some distance from water. Nests may within 15 feet of one another. The Gadwall (Anas Strepera) is not as gregarious as some dabbling ducks outside the breeding season and tends to form only small flocks. This is a fairly quiet species; the male has a hoarse whistling call, and the female has a Mallard (Anas Platyrhynchos) -like quack.