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The Gadwall (Mareca strepera) is a bird found in United States, Netherlands, Canada, Sweden, United Kingdom, Denmark, and 1 more countries. Lakes, marshes and ponds across the Northern Hemisphere. It eats leaves and other plant parts and seeds and nuts. The IUCN Red List lists it as Least Concern.

🏡 Where the Gadwall lives

Lakes, marshes and ponds across the Northern Hemisphere.

🍽️ What it eats

• 🌿 Leaves & plants70%
• 🌰 Seeds & nuts30%

A rough guide to its diet over a year. Source: EltonTraits (Wilman et al. 2014).

Conservation status

Hear the Gadwall

Recorded by David Darrell-Lambert (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0), xeno-canto XC1175215. Trimmed to a few seconds.

Questions about the Gadwall

Where does the Gadwall live?

The Gadwall lives in United States, Netherlands, Canada, Sweden, United Kingdom, Denmark, and 1 more countries. Lakes, marshes and ponds across the Northern Hemisphere.

What does the Gadwall eat?

leaves and other plant parts (about 70%), seeds and nuts (about 30%). These are rough shares of its diet over a year, from the EltonTraits database.

Is the Gadwall endangered?

There are plenty of these birds. Its IUCN Red List category is Least Concern.

More birds from Europe

• Common reed warbler
• Common goldeneye
• Eurasian oystercatcher
• Western marsh harrier
• Eurasian sparrowhawk
• European pied flycatcher

Sources: IUCN Red List (via Wikidata), EltonTraits 1.0 (Wilman et al. 2014), GBIF sightings for countries, Wikipedia. Last updated 2026-10-19.