Gadwall

Medium sized duck. The male can be distinguished by the black back of the greyish body, the brown back, the white "mirror" (characteristic area on the open wing in ducks), the all-black thin beak and the "sharp" forehead. The female is slightly smaller in size with a uniform brownish tint with light mottling, a smaller white mirror and a yellowish-orange beak. Legs, in both sexes, yellow.

Species of central Europe and Asia and also of central North America. The western populations (Europe and America) are resident and the eastern populations migrate south for the winter as far south as North Africa (coast of NW Africa and east to the horn, in Ethiopia). In our country it occurs only in the winter months.

In Lesvos it is considered rare with only a few individuals recorded each year (5-10), most commonly in the two saltpans and the northern part of the Gulf of Kalloni.

As it overwinters, it occupies fresh or saltwater marshes, lagoons, reservoirs, but also coastal areas with suitable aquatic vegetation (submerged or floating).

• It feeds mainly on plant material, such as wetland vegetation and its seeds, and less on aquatic invertebrates (insect larvae, beetles, worms, etc.), which the females seem to prefer when eggs are developing on their bodies.
• It collects its food below the surface of the water by dipping its head and rarely outside the water or on land.
• In winter it spends 60% of its day foraging.
• It walks comfortably on land, being able to keep its body almost horizontal
• It can take off directly from the surface of the water.
• It sleeps mostly in the water with its beak tucked into its wing.
• Gadwalls are monogamous and can breed immediately after their first year of life. Mating begins as early as the autumn migration or for others on return to breeding areas.