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Eurasian wigeon migration Mareca penelope
ⶠFollow the Eurasian wigeon across the big globe
Press ⶠto play the year. Line: a simplified typical route, joining the main cluster of GBIF records in each month (adjusted for observer effort).
| Scientific name | Mareca penelope |
|---|---|
| IUCN status | Least concern |
| Records mapped | 2,038,989 (GBIF) |
| GPS / geolocator tracks | none with an open licence yet |
Facts from Wikidata Q28106837 (CC0).
When does the Eurasian wigeon arrive in the UK?
A winter visitor in the records: numbers build from late August and stay high until about mid April.
Bars: this speciesâ share of all UK bird records in GBIF (CC0/CC BY), by month, scaled to the peak month. Based on 294,489 UK records. Weekly counts from the GBIF occurrence search API (country=GB). Dates are read from records, not from a survey, so treat them as a guide.
When do they arrive in and leave the UK? â
Migration in the data
2,038,989 GBIF records (CC0 and CC BY 4.0 licences only) are mapped here, in 1.41° grid cells, month by month.
In Europe and Africa, the centre of the records (adjusted for observer effort) is furthest north in June (about 63°N) and furthest south in January (about 48°N).
Month by month: centre of records in Europe and Africa
| Month | Centre (latitude) | South of the Equator |
|---|---|---|
| January | 48°N | 0% |
| February | 49°N | 0% |
| March | 52°N | 0% |
| April | 57°N | 0% |
| May | 62°N | 0% |
| June | 63°N | 0% |
| July | 63°N | 0% |
| August | 61°N | 0% |
| September | 60°N | 0% |
| October | 55°N | 0% |
| November | 51°N | 0% |
| December | 49°N | 0% |
Tracked birds
No openly licensed (CC0 / CC BY) tracking data package for this species was found in the Movebank Data Repository yet, so only records are shown.
About the Eurasian wigeon
The Eurasian wigeon or European wigeon, also known as the widgeon or wigeon, is one of three extant species of wigeon in the dabbling duck genus Mareca. It is common and widespread within its Palearctic range.
From the Wikipedia article âEurasian wigeonâ (revision 1380665046), CC BY-SA 4.0.
Sources
GBIF occurrence records, licence CC0 1.0 or CC BY 4.0 only, observations only (no specimens), filtered with: taxonKey=8000602&license=CC0_1_0&license=CC_BY_4_0&occurrenceStatus=PRESENT&hasGeospatialIssue=false&basisOfRecord=HUMAN_OBSERVATION&basisOfRecord=MACHINE_OBSERVATION&basisOfRecord=OBSERVATION. Monthly queries: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec. GBIF.org (23 October 2026) occurrence data accessed via the GBIF API; a GBIF download DOI is still to be added. Contributing datasets.