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The UK Bird Atlas

American Wigeon (Mareca americana)Where and when to see it in the UK

Status not yet classified · reporting peaks October · Ducks, Swans, and Geese · BOU category AE

Records to 2026-08-16 · build 2026-08-31

American Wigeon (Mareca americana)
Donna Dewhurst, USFWS, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Peak months
American Wigeon: relative reporting rate by 10 km square, September

Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (grid squares, place names from OS Open Names). Northern Ireland place names: OSNI Open Data, OGL v3.0. County and country boundaries: Office for National Statistics, Open Government Licence v3.0. Coastline: Natural Earth. Bird records from the data partners listed here.

American Wigeon has been recorded in 178 of the 2,971 10 km squares covering UK land (6%) in records to 2026. Its strongest squares are in England, Scotland and Wales. Reporting peaks in October.

Conservation status: Least Concern (IUCN Red List, LC)
View on the IUCN Red List
Relative to this species' best squares (how classes are calculated)
Very high
28% or more of visits
High
3% to 28%
Moderate
1% to 3%
Low
under 1%
Surveyed, not recorded
at least 20 qualifying visits, no record
Insufficient records
too few visits to say
Lighter fill
Few visits, lower confidence
Small dot
Occasional: a single record, or out of season

Seasonality

Reporting rate by month, relative to the peak month
MonthRelative to peakShare of visitsTypical class
January 55%<1%Moderate
February 44%<1%Very high
March 26%<1%Low
April 12%<1%Very high
May 6%<1%Low
June 9%<1%Moderate
July 6%<1%Very high
August 1%<1%Low
September 23%<1%Low
October 100%<1%Moderate
November 37%<1%Very high
December 42%<1%High

Squares with the highest reporting rate in October

SquareWhereShare of visitsClass
NF74Na h-Eileanan Siar, Scotland100%Very high
NY08Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland100%Very high
NZ33County Durham, England100%Very high
SD48Westmorland and Furness, England100%Very high
SO85Worcestershire, England100%Very high
ST56North Somerset, England100%Very high
SV81Isles of Scilly, England100%Very high
SX97Devon, England100%Very high
TF33Lincolnshire, England100%Very high
NO20Fife, Scotland20%High

Spotted an error in a square? Report it and it goes into the review queue. Read the methodology for how classes, flags and sensitive-species rules work. Data to 2026.