Eurasian Wigeon

Eurasian Wigeon

Mareca penelope Rauðhöfðaönd

Wigeon were recorded sporadically between March and August, until an influx in late August. During September and October, Wigeon were recorded on all surveys except one. A peak of 148 birds was recorded in early October. They were well distributed across the site being recorded in all but two subsites during low tide survey, and all but one during rising tide surveys. The peak in late June/July may represent moulting males (and non-breeders) (Delany et al. 2006). The late-August influx may represent moulting females, or staging ahead of onward migration to North America or Western Europe (BirdLife International 2020).

Number of individuals 160 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 Low-tide Rising-tide

10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Week number and month

Figure 3-27. Number of Mareca penelope recorded during weekly low tide and rising tide estuarine surveys in the Andakíll Ramsar site between 12th March and 25th October 2017.

Figure 3-28. Relative abundance of Mareca penelope during weekly (a) low tide and (b) rising tide estuarine surveys in the Andakíll Ramsar site between 12th March and 25th October 2017. Dots are randomly positioned within each subsite. While each dot refers to a single bird, it refers to the bird’s presence in that subsite only, and not the bird’s actual location.

(a) Low tide (b) Rising tide

(a) Spring (b) Autumn

Figure 3-29. Relative abundance during (a) spring and (b) autumn of Mareca penelope counted on twiceweekly estuarine surveys in the Andakíll Ramsar site in 2017. Spring = 12th March - 7th June; Autumn = 12th June - 25th October. The number of dots in each subsite refers to the total number of bird-records (from weekly low tide and rising tide surveys) in spring and autumn, adjusted for the length of the season, and reflects the species’ abundance in that season, not the specific location of birds. Figure 3-30. Proportion of foraging and roosting Mareca penelope during weekly (a) low tide and (b) rising tide estuarine surveys in six subsites in the Andakíll Ramsar site between 12th March and 25th October 2017.

(a) Low tide (b) Rising tide