Blue-winged Teal

Anas discorsOrder: ANSERIFORMESFamily: Geese and Ducks (Anatidae)
Blue-winged Teal Male Portrait
  Splitbar
Range Map for Blue-winged Teal

Overview

Blue-winged Teal: Small dabbling duck, purple-gray head, distinct white crescent on face. Upperparts are scaled buff, dark brown; underparts are pale brown with numerous dark spots. Wings have green speculum, pale blue shoulder patch visible in flight. Fast direct flight with steady wing beats.

Range and Habitat

Blue-winged Teal: Breeds in northern prairies and parklands of central North America and spends winters from Central America and the Caribbean south to Peru and northeastern Brazil. Preferred nesting habitats include wetland areas within grasslands, such as marshes, ponds, and lakes. Winter habitats are mostly swamps and shallow wetlands.

Splitbar

Listen:

Your computer does not have flash installed, please visit Macromedia.com to get flash.

Voice Text

"tsee tsee"

Splitbar

Related Birds:

Pied-billed Grebe
Northern Shoveler
Ruddy Duck
Green-winged Teal
Baikal Teal
Cinnamon Teal
Garganey
Gadwall
Mottled Duck
.

All contents © Copyright 2003-2005 Mitch Waite Group. All rights reserved. No part of this web site may be reproduced without written permission from Mitch Waite Group. Privacy Policy

Percevia® Registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
The Percevia field guides, database and search protocol patent pending.

The best bird guide and bird watching search engine to identify birds!

Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Family Surface-feeding Duck (Anatidae)_blue
Species Anas discors
Length15 - 17 Inches
Wingspan27 Inches

Blue-winged Teal

Blue-winged Teal: Small dabbling duck, purple-gray head, distinct white crescent on face. Upperparts are scaled buff, dark brown; underparts are pale brown with numerous dark spots. Wings have green speculum, pale blue shoulder patch visible in flight. Fast direct flight with steady wing beats.

● Song: "tsee tsee"

● Foraging & Feeding: Blue-winged Teal: Diet includes aquatic invertebrates, aquatic vegetation, and seeds; forages in shallow water and mudflats.

● Breeding & nesting: Blue-winged Teal: Six to fifteen white to olive eggs are laid in a ground hollow filled with grass and weeds and lined with down. Nest is built by the female and usually hidden in tall grass near water. Incubation ranges from 22 to 27 days and is carried out by the female. Young fly in 35 to 49 days.

● Similar species: Blue-winged Teal: Adult male is unmistakable; immature and eclipse male resemble female.

Flight Pattern

Direct flight with steady quick wing beats.
Blue-winged Teal: Male
● Range & Habitat: Blue-winged Teal: Breeds in northern prairies and parklands of central North America and spends winters from Central America and the Caribbean south to Peru and northeastern Brazil. Preferred nesting habitats include wetland areas within grasslands, such as marshes, ponds, and lakes. Winter habitats are mostly swamps and shallow wetlands.
BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester
PopulationCommon in the East, Uncommon in the West
MigrationMigratory
Weight14.4 Ounces