Ardea
Official journal of the Netherlands Ornithologists' Union

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Donker J.K. (1959) Migration and distribution of the Wigeon, Anas penelope L., in Europe, based on ringing results. ARDEA 47 (1-2): 1-27
Breeding areas, winter quarters and migratory routes of European Wigeon obtained on the basis of recoveries of ringed birds, are represented by figure 7. 1. Wigeon which breed in Iceland migrate in the autumn mainly in a south-easterly direction to Great Britain and Ireland in order to winter there. Some of the birds travel further into the mainland of Europe. Winter-visitors have also been found in Iceland and on the east coast of North America. The movements of the autumn migration are shown in figure 7 by means of arrows, marked 1. Recoveries from northern Russia in or about the breeding season give a rather striking picture. To explain these recoveries we must presume that pairing takes place in the western European winter quarters between birds native to Iceland and Russia. It is then suggested that Wigeon originating from Iceland travel in company of the other birds to the breeding grounds in Russia. 2. Wigeon breeding in northern Sweden and Finland move to winter quarters in western and south-western Europe. The direction of the autumn migration of some of the birds ringed in northern Sweden is given by arrow 2. 3. Recoveries of Wigeon ringed in Great Britain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark and Germany, show evidence of great similarity. The breeding grounds of these birds are found in northern Russia and western Siberia (in figure the area inside the dotted line, marked A) and the winter quarters are in Western Europe (area inside the dotted line, marked C). The autumn migration moves mainly along the shores of the Baltic Sea and presumably also across the Balkans to northern Italy (see arrows marked 3). Recoveries of Wigeon ringed in the Netherlands justify the conclusion that the spring migration takes the birds along a more direct route over Central Europe to the respective breeding grounds, which is confirmed by field observations. 4. Wigeon ringed in the U. S. S. R. belong partly to the group as described under 3. The remainder breeds in West and Central Siberia (in figure area inside the broken line, marked B) and winter in southern Europe (area inside the broken line, marked D). Recoveries warrant the statement that the migration in spring and autumn takes an approximately north-easterly and south-westerly direction (arrows no. 6 and 5). Some Wigeon were found in West and Central Siberia which had been ringed in north-western India. The migratory route in spring is shown by arrow no. 7.


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