Breeding males are brown-bodied with dark speckling on the breast, slaty-blue head with a white crescent behind the bill, and a small white flank patch in front of their black rear. Females and eclipse males are a cold, patterned brown. In flight, they reveal a bold powder-blue patch on their upperwing coverts.
Where can you find a blue-winged teal?
northern prairies
Blue-winged teal breed primarily in the northern prairies and parklands of central North America. Their relative abundance generally increases from west to east, and north to south within the Prairie Pothole Region.
What is the difference between a teal and a green-winged teal?
Regional Differences
In Europe and Asia, a form of the Green-winged Teal (often called Common Teal) lacks the male’s white vertical stripe on the breast and instead shows a white horizontal stripe on the shoulder. Another subspecies from the Aleutian Islands shares these markings with “Common” Teal.
How big is a blue wing teal?
14 to 15 inches
Females are smaller than males. Both have the powder-blue forewing patch and green on the back section of feather sknown as the speculum. The blue-winged teal typically grows to 14 to 15 inches in length, 10 to 18 ounces in weight and have a wingspan of 22 to 24 inches.
What is the range of a blue-winged teal?
The blue-winged teal (Spatula discors) is a species of bird in the duck, goose, and swan family Anatidae. One of the smaller members of the dabbling duck group, it occurs in North America, where it breeds from southern Alaska to Nova Scotia, and south to northern Texas.
Are blue-winged teals rare?
Blue-winged Teal are the second most abundant duck in North America, behind the Mallard. Their populations remained stable between 1966 and 2019, according to the North American Breeding Bird Survey.
Do blue-winged teal ducks eat fish?
These ducks are omnivores, and they mainly eat aquatic invertebrates and aquatic plants, the Fish and Wildlife Service reports. During the summer breeding season, their main food sources are tadpoles, snails and aquatic insects.
What does a female blue-winged teal look like?
Breeding males are brown-bodied with dark speckling on the breast, slaty-blue head with a white crescent behind the bill, and a small white flank patch in front of their black rear. Females and eclipse males are a cold, patterned brown. In flight, they reveal a bold powder-blue patch on their upperwing coverts.
What eats blue-winged teal?
Long-tailed weasels often consume blue-wing teal eggs. Females are preyed on by raptors when they are on their nests. In prairies, these ducks are captured by red foxes.
How long do teal ducks live?
How long do teals live? In the Wild, teals have an average lifespan between 10-17 years, up to 23 years has been recorded. In Captivity, they usually live up to 10-17 years, but lifespan up to 23 years has been recorded.
How fast does a Blue-winged Teal fly?
30 mph
Blue-winged and green-winged teal, thought by many hunters to be the fastest ducks, are actually among the slowest, having a typical flight speed of only 30 mph.
Is Blue-winged Teal good eating?
The incredible, edible teal. These zippy little birds are known the world over for their delicate fat, petite size, and mild flavor. Whether served whole, roasted with accompaniments, or doled-out as perfectly-portioned poppers, few would argue against their edibility.
How fast do teal ducks fly?
The green-winged teal is the smallest dabbling duck native to America. It is among the fastest fliers of the game birds, capable of flying 97 kph (60 mph) but usually flies 80 kph (50 mph).
What habitat do teal like?
Swamps and sloughs with expanses of open water will hold teal, as well as larger lakes and impoundments. Shallow (usually no deeper than a foot) aquatic vegetation is key.
How do you hunt blue wing teal?
Quiet, shallow waters are where to look for teal in September, and small duck decoy spreads are the rule for hunting them. ver, in September blue-wings are still in eclipse plumage, meaning their heads and bodies are all-brown. Also, most teal decoys are sized to match live birds — small.
How many eggs do teal ducks lay?
They lay an average clutch of 6 to 11 eggs. Both parents help incubate the eggs. The ducklings are precocial, meaning they are well developed when they hatch. Once the eggs have hatched the parents leave the nest.
How many types of teal ducks are there?
There are three types of teals found in North America. The Green-winged Teal and Blue-winged Teal are the most common and located over much of the continent. The Cinnamon Teal is found throughout the central USA as well as to the west coast and into Mexico.
How rare is a blue duck?
According to the IUCN Red List, the total Blue duck population size is 1,800 individuals, including 1,200 mature individuals. According to the New Zealand Birds Online resource, there are unlikely to be over 1,000 pairs in the total breeding population.
What do you feed teal ducks?
Ducks should be fed a commercially prepared age appropriate food as their main diet. Ducks should be provided with suitable vegetables and fruits to supplement the commercial diet. Zucchini, peas, leafy greens, corn, vegetable peels, non-citrus fruit and worms are suitable.
How do you attract teal ducks?
3 Ways to Attract More Ducks to Your Pond
- Increase water clarity. Clear water encourages aquatic plants, aquatic snails and several aquatic insects, which are primary foods of migratory ducks.
- Reduce disturbance. Human activity near a pond can scare away ducks, causing them to relocate elsewhere.
- Add duck food plants.
Do teal ducks eat corn?
Ducks have a varied omnivorous diet, including birdseed, wheat, barley, uncooked or quick oat, and other similar grains. Seemingly, these birds are impartial to corn and can eat any; fresh corn from the cob, dry and cracked corn, or tinned, and frozen whole corn kernels-be sure to defrost them first, though.