BIRDS OF NANTUCKET
IT'S A BIRD - IT'S A PLANE - NO IT'S …
by Kenneth Turner Blackshaw
But after all, this is a bird column. You'll have to read further to understand the tenuous tie-in to the title.

Euro Wigeon

Like the archaic spelling of 'pidgeon,' this week's bird has lost the 'd' in its name, and is now simply a wigeon. The word goes back to Old French, meaning a whistling duck. This week's bird is not just any wigeon though. It is a special one - one from across the big pond. We are speaking of the Eurasian Wigeon!

This was a bird I decided I would never see when I was first learning birds back in the '50s. Griscom and Folger called it simply a 'vagrant' in "The Birds of Nantucket," with just a single record. My Peterson field guide gave me little more hope. It took me 40 years to actually find one.

As its name implies, this is a Eurasian bird. The closest it nests to us is Iceland. The several hundred of them that winter on the U. S. East Coast from Nantucket southwards have an interesting migration path. Right now there is a handsome drake fraternizing with his American relatives on Miacomet Pond. We don't get one here every year but the records suggest that once one does arrive, you can watch for it in the same spot the following year.

A few years ago we had a bird that would frequent the small ponds near the intersection of Bartlett's Farm and Hummock Pond Roads. It was a treat spotting his rusty red head with cream-colored forehead amongst the green and white-headed American Wigeons. Alas, he is no longer with us. Eurasian Wigeons seem to have a much shorter lifespan than their New World counterparts, just over eight years for the oldest, compared to over twenty for American Wigeons.

The Latin name for this species is Anas penelope and therein lies the connection to the title. My favorite tool for this subject is Ernest A. Choate's "The Dictionary of American Bird Names." Anas is easy, just Latin for a duck. But what about 'penelope?' What was Linnaeus thinking when he named this bird?

You may remember that Penelope was the name of the faithful wife of Ulysses who waited 20 years for him to return from the legendary Trojan War around 1200 B.C. She forestalled her suitors by intently weaving. Indeed the Greek word for weaver is Penelope. There are further legends that tell us that as a child she was thrown into the sea by her parents (who knows why) but was rescued by seabirds that were perhaps, wigeons! So this duck was named for a skill - weaving, or a woman - Penelope, or a seabird - maybe a wigeon! You choose! I know, I stretched it with the 'plane.' Anyway, the name 'penelope' has a nice musical quality to it.

In South America, there is a family of pheasantlike birds called "Guans"who are in the scientific genus Penelope. I wonder if their nest is intricately woven.

It turns out that Nantucket is one of the better places in the Eastern U. S. to see a Eurasian Wigeon. We have found them on 20 of our 51 Christmas Bird Counts. We typically find them with groups of American Wigeons. These ducks are just a little smaller than Mallards and like them, are dabbling ducks; that is, they seldom dive. Instead they tip forward, rear end in the air, and reach down to grab food with their beaks.

As an aside, Mute Swans are also birds that dabble. The other day we watched them tipping forward to feed in Miacomet Pond. The resultant image is this huge, rather iceberg-like, coneshaped, white form bobbing in the water - comical and fascinating at the same time.

Back to our wigeons, most of their diet is vegetable, eelgrass being a favorite. This makes them a choice 'table' bird for sportsmen. But occasionally they go onto dietary excursions into the animal world that render them almost inedible! In Iceland there is a stinging housefly that they consume by the thousands. Interestingly this fly has a very

sweet taste. It's impossible to be outside and not

inadvertently consume so many that one becomes aware of the flavor. Local children catch them and eat them like candy.

My records show that Nantucket's 2006 Eurasian Wigeon hung around at least until the 6th of March before heading back to Iceland, nearly 2,500 miles, much of this over water. Of course, these are ducks so water should be no problem. But it is still a long way to go.

There he will pair with one of the brown, rather nondescript female wigeons and attempt to raise seven or more ducklings, doing his bit to keep this westward flying genetic strain going. Perhaps he will return to Miacomet Pond next December; if not

him, one of his ducklings a few years hence. I

George C. West creates illustrations for these articles.If you enjoy 'social' birding, join the Nantucket Bird Club at 8 a.m. Sundays in front of Nantucket High School for a two to three hour birding trip. Call 228-1693 for more information.To hear about rare birds, or to leave a bird report call the Massachusetts Audubon hot line at 1-781-259- 8805.