Bird
Gadwall
Anas strepera
A winter visitor to West Virginia, found in all 55 counties and 5 habitats.
- Here
- Winter and on migration
- Nesting
- Not known to nest here
- Range
- All 55 counties
- Habitats
- 5

At a glance
- Group
- Birds
- Here
- Winter and on migration
- Nesting
- Not known to nest here
- Range
- All 55 counties
- Habitats
- 5
- Habitat models
- Winter
Where it lives
The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.
Habitats in West Virginia 5
Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Disturbed and introduced wetlands
Wet ground taken over by weedy or introduced plants after disturbance, such as common reed, Chinese tallow or tamarisk stands; the upland counterpart is roadsides, fields and disturbed ground.
Floodplain and bottomland forests
Forests on low ground beside rivers and streams that flood from time to time.
Open, herb-covered wetlands with fresh, non-tidal water.
Still water and its edges: ponds, lakes, millponds and reservoirs.
Open, wet, grassy or sedgy ground that is not a bog.
Other habitats in its models (26)
Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in West Virginia. Those recorded in West Virginia first, the rest by region.
Elsewhere in the South (14)
- Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain Interdunal Wetland Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Embayed Region Tidal Freshwater Marsh Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Indian River Lagoon Tidal Marsh Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Large Natural Lakeshore Winter.
- Central Florida Herbaceous Pondshore Winter.
- Florida Big Bend Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Winter.
- Florida Big Bend Salt-Brackish Tidal Marsh Winter.
- Floridian Highlands Freshwater Marsh Winter.
- Mississippi Sound Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh Winter.
- Red River Large Floodplain Forest Winter.
- South Florida Everglades Sawgrass Marsh Winter.
- South Florida Freshwater Slough and Gator Hole Winter.
Northeast (1)
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Fresh and Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Winter.
Land cover and other classes (11)
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Depression Pondshore Winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Herbaceous Modifier Winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Depression Pondshore Winter.
- Gulf and Atlantic Coastal Plain Tidal Marsh Systems Winter.
- Mississippi River Floodplain and Riparian Forest Winter.
- Open Water (Brackish/Salt) Winter.
- South-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Herbaceous Modifier Winter.
- Texas-Louisiana Coastal Prairie Slough Winter.
- Unconsolidated Shore Winter.
- Unconsolidated Shore (Beach/Dune) Winter.
- Unconsolidated Shore (Lake/River/Pond) Winter.
Seasons in West Virginia
- Migratory: does not nest here, in 52 of 55 counties.
- Winter: does not nest here, in 12 of 55 counties.
Food plants
Diet records by plant genus, from studies across North America. Not a record from this state. Plants matched by genus.
Native plants in these genera 98
- Chufa Flat Sedge; Earth AlmondCyperus esculentus var. leptostachyus
- Cyperus lupulinus subsp. lupulinusCyperus lupulinus subsp. lupulinus
- Cyperus lupulinus subsp. macilentusCyperus lupulinus subsp. macilentus
- Bearded FlatsedgeCyperus squarrosus
- Fragrant FlatsedgeCyperus odoratus
- Globe FlatsedgeCyperus echinatus
- Great Plains FlatsedgeCyperus lupulinus
- Houghton's FlatsedgeCyperus houghtonii
- Manyflower FlatsedgeCyperus lancastriensis
- Redroot FlatsedgeCyperus erythrorhizos
- Reflexed FlatsedgeCyperus refractus
- Slender FlatsedgeCyperus bipartitus
- Straw-colored FlatsedgeCyperus strigosus
- Toothed FlatsedgeCyperus dentatus
- Yellow FlatsedgeCyperus flavescens
- Yellow NutsedgeCyperus esculentus
- Elliptic Spike RushEleocharis elliptica
- Intermediate Spike RushEleocharis intermedia
- Bald SpikerushEleocharis erythropoda
- Beaked SpikerushEleocharis rostellata
- Blunt Spike RushEleocharis obtusa
- Common SpikerushEleocharis palustris
- Creeping SpikerushEleocharis fallax
- Englemann's SpikerushEleocharis engelmannii
Plant genera in its diet records (19)
- Ruppia Leaves. 4 diet records. 0 native plants in West Virginia
- Cyperus Seeds. 3 diet records. 16 native plants in West Virginia
- Eleocharis Leaves. 3 diet records. 15 native plants in West Virginia
- Distichlis Leaves. 2 diet records. 0 native plants in West Virginia
- Lachnanthes Seeds and roots. 2 diet records. 0 native plants in West Virginia
- Scirpus 2 diet records. 11 native plants in West Virginia
- Bolboschoenus Seeds. 1 diet record. 1 native plant in West Virginia
- Ceratophyllum Leaves. 1 diet record. 2 native plants in West Virginia
- Chara Leaves. 1 diet record. 0 native plants in West Virginia
- Echinochloa 1 diet record. 3 native plants in West Virginia
- Lemna Leaves. 1 diet record. 5 native plants in West Virginia
- Leptochloa Leaves. 1 diet record. 0 native plants in West Virginia
- Myriophyllum Leaves. 1 diet record. 3 native plants in West Virginia
- Nyssa 1 diet record. 1 native plant in West Virginia
- Panicum Seeds. 1 diet record. 11 native plants in West Virginia
- Persicaria Seeds. 1 diet record. 10 native plants in West Virginia
- Potamogeton Leaves. 1 diet record. 18 native plants in West Virginia
- Stuckenia Leaves. 1 diet record. 1 native plant in West Virginia
- Zannichellia Leaves. 1 diet record. 1 native plant in West Virginia
Also found in its main habitats
Its main habitats in West Virginia, by how much of its habitat model each one is, with the birds most characteristic of each and the plants that grow wild there. Shared habitat, not food.
Disturbed and introduced wetlands
Birds 112
- Northern WaterthrushSeiurus noveboracensis
- Forster's TernSterna forsteri
- Black TernChlidonias niger
- Bonaparte's GullChroicocephalus philadelphia
- Caspian TernHydroprogne caspia
- Common LoonGavia immer
- Common TernSterna hirundo
- DickcisselSpiza americana
- DunlinCalidris alpina
- Greater ScaupAythya marila
- Lapland LongspurCalcarius lapponicus
- Least SandpiperCalidris minutilla
Plants 12
- Slender FimbryFimbristylis autumnalis
- Blue MistflowerConoclinium coelestinum
- False DaisyEclipta prostrata
- Intermediate Spike RushEleocharis intermedia
- Blunt Spike RushEleocharis obtusa
- Bristly SedgeCarex comosa
- Sensitive FernOnoclea sensibilis
- Heart Leaf WillowSalix eriocephala
- Cuscuta gronovii var. gronoviiCuscuta gronovii var. gronovii
- European Gray WillowSalix cinerea
- Ricefield FlatsedgeCyperus iria
- White WillowSalix alba
Floodplain and bottomland forests
Birds 92
- Blue-winged TealAnas discors
- CanvasbackAythya valisineria
- Marsh WrenCistothorus palustris
- Ruddy DuckOxyura jamaicensis
- Snowy EgretEgretta thula
- American PipitAnthus rubescens
- Lincoln's SparrowMelospiza lincolnii
- Snowy OwlBubo scandiacus
- Virginia RailRallus limicola
- Green HeronButorides virescens
- Least BitternIxobrychus exilis
- Prothonotary WarblerProtonotaria citrea
Plants 303
- Peach Leaf WillowSalix amygdaloides
- White Panicled Aster; Eastern Lined AsterSymphyotrichum lanceolatum var. latifolium
- Rudbeckia fulgida var. spathulataRudbeckia fulgida var. spathulata
- Shagbark HickoryCarya ovata
- Spreading SedgeCarex laxiculmis
- Blunt Broom SedgeCarex tribuloides
- Mountain SilverbellHalesia carolina
- Smooth Hedge-nettleStachys tenuifolia
- Common Cup-plantSilphium perfoliatum
- Camphor PlucheaPluchea camphorata
- Virginia Cup-plantSilphium perfoliatum var. connatum
- Heartleaf NettleUrtica chamaedryoides
Freshwater marshes
Birds 31
- American BitternBotaurus lentiginosus
- King RailRallus elegans
- Horned GrebePodiceps auritus
- Least BitternIxobrychus exilis
- SoraPorzana carolina
- Golden EagleAquila chrysaetos
- Ring-necked PheasantPhasianus colchicus
- Willow FlycatcherEmpidonax traillii
- MallardAnas platyrhynchos
- Great EgretArdea alba
- Ring-necked DuckAythya collaris
- Wilson's SnipeGallinago delicata
Plants 166
- Crowned BeggarticksBidens trichosperma
- Lakebank SedgeCarex lacustris
- Tall Meadow-rueThalictrum pubescens
- River BulrushBolboschoenus fluviatilis
- Coast Cockspur-grassEchinochloa walteri
- Common SpikerushEleocharis palustris
- Englemann's SpikerushEleocharis engelmannii
- Slender Spike RushEleocharis tenuis var. tenuis
- Squarestem SpikerushEleocharis quadrangulata
- Soapwort GentianGentiana saponaria
- Small BeggarticksBidens discoidea
Sources
- USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models (2001)
- USGS GAP winter habitat model for Gadwall
- USGS Gap Analysis Project range maps (2001), modeled by watershed; migratory gives no dates
- NatureServe Explorer (CC BY 4.0), habitat names
- US Census TIGER/Line counties
- Names follow the USGS Gap Analysis Project (2001)
- Avian Diet Database (Hurlbert Lab) (CC0 1.0), diet records by plant genus































































