gadwall

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Small dabbling duck (Anas strepera) that is a popular game bird, found throughout the upper Northern Hemisphere.

Its largest breeding populations in North America are in the Dakotas and in Canada's prairie provinces. The gadwall is brownish gray with white patches, visible only during flight, on the rear of the wings. Its preferred diet is stems and leaves of aquatic plants, supplemented by seeds and algae. Gadwalls often live in shallow freshwater ponds and marshes, often in mixed flocks with wigeons. Unlike wigeons, they rarely feed on land.

More on "gadwall" from Britannica Concise:

dabbling duck - Any of about 43 species (tribe Anatini; including 38 species in genus Anas) of ducks found worldwide, chiefly on inland waters and most commonly in temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere.

More on "gadwall" from the 32 Volume Encyclopædia Britannica:

gadwall - (Anas strepera), small, drably coloured duck of the family Anatidae, a popular game bird. Almost circumpolar in distribution in the Northern Hemisphere, the gadwall breeds above latitude 40 and winters between 20-40. In North America the densest breeding populations occur in the Dakotas and the prairie provinces of Canada; the coast of Louisiana is a primary wintering area. These brownish gray ...

dabbling duck - any of about 38 species of Anas and about 5 species in other genera, constituting the tribe Anatini, subfamily Anatinae, family Anatidae (q.v.; order Anseriformes). They feed mainly on water plants, which they obtain by tipping-up in shallows-uncommonly by diving (with opened wings); they often forage near the shore for seeds and insects. The bill is flat and broad, the hindtoe unlobed. Dabbling ...

duck - any of various species of relatively small, short-necked, large-billed waterfowl. In true ducks-i.e., those classified in the subfamily Anatinae-the legs are placed rearward, as in swans, rather than forward, as in geese. The result is a distinctive waddling gait. Most true ducks, including a few inaccurately called geese (e.g., sheldgeese) by reason of size and build, also differ from swans and ...

anseriform - There is general agreement on the family and subfamily divisions of the order and at the generic level, where most workers agree on the lumping of species into large genera. The study, in recent years, of new taxonomic characters such as behaviour patterns and biochemistry has substantially improved our understanding of relationships within the Anseriformes.

anseriform - Copulation in waterfowl typically occurs in the water, with the pair in isolation. Indeed, the avoidance of disturbance at this time may be a major function of territorial behaviour. Colonial nesting is not normal, but high densities may occur when certain areas are unusually safe and suitable-islands, for instance. More than 200 gadwall (Anas strepera) nests per acre (494 per hectare) have been ...

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