Latin name : Anas strepera

Family : anatides

Description ( photo, colour of male and female, size, shape of beak) :
Size: 46 to56 cm, Wingspan: 84 to 95 cm, Weight: 650 to900 g
On the surface, the Gadwall appears to be a duck, it's feathers are a dull colour.The male is grey with a black rump and a white stomach. When it is resting or in full flight you can see some black, white and red on it's wings. The beak is grey. The female resembles a female Mallard duck but she is much smaller; the beak has orange edges and a white stomach. It's plumage is brownish grey with black spots.

Reproduction :
The female lays 8 - 11 eggs. After 24 - 26 days of incubation, the young are born. Nesting takes place on the ground in the riverside vegetation The nest is hidden under a thick heap of plants.

Diet:
It is a vegetarian bird: grasses, water plants, seeds.

Habitat:
It lives in ponds, lakes and marshes rich in vegetation It also likes to live in slow flowing rivers and streams and in flooded meadows. It does not frequent sandy water.

Migration :
It rarely migrates and nestles; it is very common in France and Belgium ( Anvers region) mostly in the large pond areas ( Lorraine, Dombes, Forez, Camargue, Sologne). It is an Eastern European species but at the time of migration you will see it on the Atlantic coast and particularly in the Mediterranean basin. It also lives in Great Britain. It winters in western Europe and migrates to Russia for nesting.

Conservation ( protected species or not) :
It is not protected in France.

Lifespan: 13 years maximum.

Cry or song ( description) :
It has a nasal chatter chiefly at night: "rekrekrekrek"