Pfeifente Bavaria

The Eurasian Wigeon prefers shallow, vegetation-rich fresh and brackish waters. As staging and wintering habitat it uses extensive tidal flats, coastal lagoons, river estuaries, flooded meadows and large grassland areas in the lowlands of major river valleys. Unlike most dabbling ducks it dabbles only to a limited extent and feeds mainly by grazing on short-sward wet grassland close to water.

The Wigeon is a medium- to long-distance migrant. The most important breeding grounds for the birds staging in Central Europe lie in Scandinavia, the Baltic states and across northern Russia and Siberia. Autumn migration begins in early September, and the return to the breeding grounds takes place in April. In Germany only a small number of pairs breed, mainly along the North Sea coast of Schleswig-Holstein, but the country is of international importance as a staging and wintering area, with concentrations in the Wadden Sea and along large river floodplains.

The drake gives the species its name through its characteristic, far-carrying call: a short low note followed by a high glissando whistle, often rendered as "wü-iiu". These calls can be heard by day and at night and frequently reveal the species before it is seen. Females, by contrast, give hard, rattling "rerr" and "war-warrr" notes.

In Germany the Eurasian Wigeon is classified as huntable game and is subject to an open season that varies between federal states. In some Länder the species is given additional protection beyond the statutory closed season, either by regulation or by voluntary restraint. Hunting takes place mainly on the staging and wintering waters of the coast and the large inland wetlands. For field identification in a hunting context, the whistling call, the flock behaviour on open water and grassland, and the striking head pattern of the drake are the most reliable features.