What they like

Quiet ponds, canals and ditches with a ragged edge. Shallow water with aquatic plants. Overhanging vegetation for shelter. And in winter: open water where there’s still something to feed on. Make it attractive: leave a strip of bank, mow in stages, create a nature-friendly shoreline. In a garden or park: a pond with gently sloping banks and cattails, yellow iris and water mint works wonders.

Ecological importance

The gadwall is a plant‑eater with taste. It nibbles on aquatic plants and algae and also takes seeds. In doing so it helps keep aquatic vegetation in balance and spreads seeds between ponds. Chicks do need insects, though: provide flowery, wet margins where they abound. Eggs and young are preyed on by, among others, foxes and large gulls: cover along the bank makes the difference.

When in the Netherlands

All year round. Numbers swell in autumn and winter due to birds from the north.

Status

Not threatened. However sensitive to the loss of quiet, green banks and clean, plant‑rich water.