What they like

Wet, open countryside. Shallow pools, ditch edges, wet grassland and quiet park ponds. By day it prefers shelter in reed or on a small island; in the evening it comes onto land to graze. Help it: keep banks ragged and untidy. Leave part of your grass long and just let it stand in autumn/winter. In farmland: winter flood-pasture, wide herb-rich margins and mowing less often = ideal. In parks: a natural pond edge with reed, bulrush and sedges. No neat stone quays.

Ecological importance

A genuine grazer of grass and plants: tender grass, water plants and some seeds. That way it puts wet spots on the map as a food buffet for winter visitors. Wigeons are also prey for birds of prey when they take off in the open field—good sign: a food chain is working again.

When in the Netherlands

Mostly autumn and winter, roughly October to March. Breeds here only rarely.

Status

Winter visitor. Not rare worldwide, but numbers in the Netherlands fluctuate and are under pressure due to loss of quiet, wet foraging sites.