Gadwall

The Gadwall is a medium-sized duck with a sleek, finely striped, banded plumage streamlined body. Males have a distinctive gray body, intricate vermiculated patterns on the sides, and a black rear end. The head is brown with a subtle crest.

Females are mottled brown with an orange-edged bill, resembling a smaller Mallard hen. Both sexes display a white speculum (wing patch) in flight, a key identifying feature.

Gadwalls inhabit shallow freshwater and brackish wetlands, including marshes, ponds, and slow-moving rivers. They breed across northern regions of North America and Eurasia, including parts of the UK.

During winter, they migrate to southern areas, with significant populations in the southern United States, Mexico, and southern Europe. In the UK, they are year-round residents, with numbers boosted by winter visitors.

Gadwalls are much more common in the west USA but breed in the Great Lakes, Alberta, Saskatchewan, North and South Dakotas, Kansas, California, and the Pacific Canadian and American coastlines. Gadwalls disperse across the USA and Central America in the winter and can be spotted in Idaho, Kansas, Ohio, and Virginia.

In the UK, they breed in south Wales, parts of Northern Ireland, east Scotland, south England, and the Midlands, especially across the Cambridgeshire fens and Ryemead in Hertfordshire.