The Eurasian Wigeon is the Old World counterpart of the familiar American Wigeon, and in Michigan it turns up as a rare visitor, almost always as a lone drake mixed into a flock of its American cousins. The male is unmistakable when found: a rich rufous-red (chestnut) head topped by a creamy buff-yellow forehead and crown, over a gray body — quite different from the American Wigeon's gray-and-green head with a white crown. Females are warm brown and far harder to pick out from female American Wigeon.
A widespread breeder across Eurasia, the Eurasian Wigeon reaches North America as a regular but scarce visitor, and in Michigan it appears mostly during migration and winter on marshes, lakes, and flooded fields, grazing on aquatic plants and grasses like other wigeon. Scanning through flocks of American Wigeon for the red-headed, buff-crowned drake is a classic hunt for the state's waterfowl enthusiasts, and finding one is always a rewarding highlight of the duck season.
Grazes on aquatic plants and grasses, dabbling and up-ending in the shallows and feeding on land, and takes seeds as well, much like the American Wigeon. It often associates with American Wigeon flocks and pirates plant food from diving ducks and coots.
The drake Eurasian Wigeon has a rufous-red head with a creamy buff-yellow forehead and crown, over a gray body. The American Wigeon has a gray-and-green head with a white crown and a browner body. Females of the two are much harder to separate.
In flocks of American Wigeon on marshes, lakes, and flooded fields, mostly during migration and winter. A lone red-headed drake among American Wigeon is the usual way one is found.
The Eurasian Wigeon breeds across Eurasia and is a regular but scarce visitor to North America. In Michigan it occurs only as a rare visitor, most often in migration and winter.
Immatures and females are rusty-brown-headed and extremely similar to American Wigeon; the gray axillaries under the wing are the standard mark. Young males show a blotchy mix of rust and cream on the head.
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