Mareca strepera, gadwall
Tesky, Julie L. 1993. Mareca strepera, gadwall. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://research.fs.usda.gov/feis/species-reviews/mast
| Abbreviation | Common Name | Scientific Name | Classification | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Animals | ||||
| MAST | gadwall | Mareca strepera | Life Form: Animals/Bird Kingdom: Animalia Class: Bird Order: Anseraformes Family: Anatidae Genus: Anas | Fed. Protected: No Nativity: Native Invasiveness: Noninvasive |
Taxonomy
The scientific name of the gadwall is Mareca strepera Linnaeus [22]. There are no recognized subspecies [1,6].
Synonyms
- Anas strepera [1,6]
Other Common Names
gray (grey) duck, gray mallard, gray widgeon, redwing
General Distribution
In North America the gadwall's breeding range extends from southern Alaska and southern Yukon to the New Brunswick-Nova Scotia border, south locally to southern California, northern Texas, central Minnesota, and northern Pennsylvania, and along the Atlantic Coast south to Florida and the Gulf Coast [6,19]. It also breeds in Iceland, the British Isles, Europe, and Asia [6].
In North America the gadwall winters from coastal Alaska south to southern Mexico, the Gulf Coast, and along the Atlantic Coast to southern New England [6,19].
States and Provinces
- United States: AL AK AZ AR CA CO CT DE FL GA ID IA KS LA ME MD MA MI MN MS MO MT NE NV NJ NM NY ND OH OK OR PA RI SC SD TN TX UT VT VA WA WV WI WY
- Canada: AB BC MB SK
- Mexico
Plant Communities
During the breeding season, gadwalls often inhabit islands in wetland communities with patches of dense western snowberry (Symphoricarpos occidentalis), slim nettle (Urtica gracilis), Canada thistle (Cirsium arvense), rose (Rosa spp.), and brome (Bromus spp.). Additionally, gadwalls commonly use areas dominated by cattail (Typha spp.), bulrush (Scirpus spp.), sedge (Carex spp.), and common rivergrass (Scolochloa festucacea) [8]. Gadwalls will also use upland cover types of cropland, pasture and hayland, grassland, and mixed prairie and weed [8,9,16].
Male gadwall in Washington Park Arboretum, Seattle.
Biological Characteristics
Development and Reproduction
- Breeding and nesting - The gadwall's breeding season varies but usually occurs in May through mid-July, somewhat later in the northern regions and earlier in the south [2,11].
- Clutch/incubation - Gadwalls lay 5 to 13 eggs per nest, and incubation is 24 to 28 days [1,13].
- Fledge - Gadwalls fledge 7 to 8 weeks after hatching [6].
- Maturity - Gadwalls become sexually mature and acquire their breeding plumage during their first winter [6].
- Migration - Gadwalls are one of the last ducks to arrive on breeding areas in the spring [1]. Some early dates of arrival for various areas in North America are as follows [2]: Southern Iowa - March 10 Minnesota, Heron Lake - March 17 Montana - April 1 Manitoba - April 23 Saskatchewan - April 18 Alberta - May 5
Male gadwall.
Female gadwall.
Predators
Predators of gadwalls include humans, foxes (Vulpes spp.), raccoons (Procyon lotor), striped skunks (Mephitis mephitis), coyotes (Canis latrans), badgers (Taxidea taxus), weasels (Mustela spp.), minks (Mustela vison), crows (Corvus spp.), and magpies (Pica spp.) [8,9,12,14].
Habitat
Diet
Gadwalls are almost exclusively surface feeders. They tend to feed in rather shallow marshes having abundant aquatic plant life growing close to the surface [6]. They sometimes feed in stubble fields for grain or in woods for acorns [19]. They mainly consume leaves and stems of aquatic plants but also eat insects, mollusks, crustaceans, amphibians, and fishes [9,16,19]. Aquatic plants commonly eaten by gadwalls include pondweed (Potamogeton spp.), widgeongrass (Ruppia maritima), saltgrass (Distichlis spp.), muskgrass (Chara spp.), eelgrass (Zostera marina), spikerush (Eleocharis spp.), spiked watermilfoil (Myriophyllum spicatum) and filamentous algae [9,16,19]. The two most prominent plants in the diet of gadwall in South Carolina are fragrant flatsedge (Cyperus odoratus) and Carolina redroot (Lachnanthes caroliniana). Major animal foods include crustaceans, especially those belonging to the order Anostraca, and insects, especially adult and larval chironomids (Chironamidae) [16].
Recently hatched gadwalls in Alberta initially fed on invertebrates but were essentially herbivorous by 3 weeks of age. Major animal foods of ducklings included adult and larval chironomids, water boatman (Cerixidae), beetles (Coleoptera), and cladocerans (Cladocera). Important plants in the duckling's diets were pondweed, green algae (Cladophoracea), duckweed (Lemna minor), and seeds of American sloughgrass (Beckmannia syzigachne) [16].
Preferred Habitat
Gadwall pairs use wetlands for feeding, loafing, and courtship prior to nesting [16]. They prefer prairie marshes, sloughs, ponds, or small lakes in grasslands of both freshwater and brackish habitats. They generally avoid wetlands bordered by woodlands or thick brush, preferring those bordered by dense, low herbaceous vegetation, or with grassy islands [6,17,19]. Shallow semipermanent prairie marshes are preferred over deeper marshes, lakes or temporary water areas [6,16]. Sixty-one percent of 1,073 gadwall broods observed over a 20-year period in North and South Dakota were in semipermanent wetlands [16].
Winter habitat - Gadwalls prefer to winter in freshwater, marshy habitats and slightly brackish estuarine bays [6,19].
Nesting - Gadwalls nest on well-drained sites on islands in lakes, upland meadows or pastures, alfalfa fields, or on prairies usually within 150 feet (45 m) of water. They prefer to nest in uplands rather than over water [19] and generally select the tallest, densest, herbaceous or shrubby vegetation available to nest in [16].
Cover Requirements
For escape cover, gadwalls prefer large areas of open water rather than with emergents [16]. Tall, dense vegetation provides good nesting cover for gadwalls. As the vegetative cover increases, the potential for nest establishment and success increases. Height and density of vegetation is assumed to be more important than species composition. In a California study, most gadwall nests were in vegetation 13 to 36 inches (33-91 cm) tall that provided concealment on all sides and above. No nests were found in herbaceous cover less than 6 inches (15 cm) tall. Fifty-one percent of nests in North Dakota nesting fields were in herbaceous cover from 12 to 24 inches (30-60 cm) tall, while 47 percent were in cover less than 6 inches (15 cm) tall [16].
Fire-caused Mortality
Late spring and summer fires may destroy gadwall nests [20]. Ducklings and molting adults are especially vulnerable to fire. When not molting adult gadwalls can probably easily escape fire.
Fire Effects on Habitat
Burning can change the growth form and pattern of nesting cover for gadwalls [20]. Gadwalls prefer nesting in dense cover [16], which can be destroyed by fire. A study of the effects of nesting cover removal on breeding puddle ducks at Lower Souris National Wildlife Refuge, North Dakota, showed that after spring burning, nest densities of gadwalls were greater in areas where the vegetation was not burned [12]. Additionally, gadwall nests were significantly (P<0.01) less abundant in mowed meadows that would be expected by chance. They made up 29 percent of all nests found, but only 13 percent of the nests were in mowed meadows. Gadwalls will, however, use areas that have been burned if cover development is sufficient when they begin nesting [12]. Changes in vegetation cover induced by fire can also benefit gadwalls by destroying unwanted vegetation and increasing vegetation preferred by gadwalls [15].
Fire Regimes
For fire regime information, search FEIS for this species by entering the species name or acronym on the home page and selecting “Fire Regime” as the publication type.
Fire Management Considerations
Wetlands can be burned to reverse plant succession to a subclimax plant community which is attractive to waterfowl [15]. Fire can be used to remove the accumulation of dead vegetation built up on marshes over the years and restore wetlands that are dominated with plants such as common reed (Phragmites communis). Desirable gadwall foods such as pondweed can be restored by burning. Burning should be postponed until after the nesting season to avoid destroying nests [15].
Federal Status
None
Other Status
Information on state- and province-level protection status of animals in the United States and Canada is available at NatureServe.
Other Management Information
Grazing and mowing often destroy preferred nesting cover for gadwalls. Although annual mowing or grazing is not recommended, mowing may be useful for maintaining vegetative cover in earlier, more productive successional stages [16].
Table A1— Forest and range ecosystems, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) physiographic regions, Kuchler plant associations, Society for American Foresters (SAF) forest cover types, and Society for Rangeland Management (SRM) rangeland cover types in which this species occurs.
Forest and Range Ecosystems (Garrison et al. 1977)
- FRES14 Oak-pine
- FRES15 Oak-hickory
- FRES17 Elm-ash-cottonwood
- FRES18 Maple-beech-birch
- FRES19 Aspen-birch
- FRES36 Mountain grasslands
- FRES37 Mountain meadows
- FRES38 Plains grasslands
- FRES39 Prairie
- FRES41 Wet grasslands
- FRES42 Annual grasslands
BLM Physiographic Regions (Bernard and Brown 1977)
- 1 Northern Pacific Border
- 2 Cascade Mountains
- 3 Southern Pacific Border
- 4 Sierra Mountains
- 5 Columbia Plateau
- 6 Upper Basin and Range
- 7 Lower Basin and Range
- 8 Northern Rocky Mountains
- 9 Middle Rocky Mountains
- 10 Wyoming Basin
- 11 Southern Rocky Mountains
- 12 Colorado Plateau
- 13 Rocky Mountain Piedmont
- 14 Great Plains
- 15 Black Hills Uplift
- 16 Upper Missouri Basin and Broken Lands
Kuchler Plant Associations (Kuchler 1964)
- K047 Fescue - oatgrass
- K048 California steppe
- K049 Tule marshes
- K050 Fescue - wheatgrass
- K051 Wheatgrass - bluegrass
- K053 Grama - galleta steppe
- K054 Grama - tobosa prairie
- K056 Wheatgrass - needlegrass shrubsteppe
- K057 Galleta - three-awn shrubsteppe
- K058 Grama - tobosa shrubsteppe
- K063 Foothills prairie
- K064 Grama - needlegrass - wheatgrass
- K065 Grama - buffalograss
- K066 Wheatgrass - needlegrass
- K067 Wheatgrass - bluestem - needlegrass
- K068 Wheatgrass - grama - buffalograss
- K069 Bluestem - grama prairie
- K072 Sea oats prairie
- K073 Northern cordgrass prairie
- K074 Bluestem prairie
- K075 Nebraska Sandhills prairie
- K076 Blackland prairie
- K077 Bluestem - sacahuista prairie
- K078 Southern cordgrass prairie
- K079 Palmetto prairie
- K094 Conifer bog
- K098 Northern floodplain forest
- K100 Oak - hickory forest
SAF Cover Types (Eyre 1980)
- 16 Aspen
- 17 Pin cherry
- 18 Paper birch
- 63 Cottonwood
- 88 Willow oak - water oak - diamondleaf oak
- 89 Live oak
- 95 Black willow
- 203 Balsam poplar
- 217 Aspen
- 235 Cottonwood - willow
- 252 Paper birch
SRM Rangeland Cover Types (Shiflet 1994)
- Copy text
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