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Blue Wing Teal
Anas discors
29.8202, -94.3841
Field Notes
Description:
A small dabbling duck, a Blue-winged Teal is dwarfed by a Mallard and only a touch larger than a Green-winged Teal. Head is rounded and bill is on the large side.
Color Pattern
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.
Behavior
Pairs and small groups dabble and up-end to reach submerged vegetation. You'll often find Blue-winged Teal with other species of dabbling ducks. They are often around the edges of ponds under vegetation, choosing a concealed spot to forage or rest.
Habitat:
Blue-winged Teal nest among grasses or herbaceous vegetation and forage in summer in shallow ponds or pond-marsh mixes. They are flightless during their late summer molt, and they spend this time in prairie potholes or large marshes. Migrants use marshes, vegetated wetlands around lakes, and rice fields, and typically stop in freshwater or brackish areas rather than saltwater. On their U.S. wintering grounds they live in fresh or brackish vegetated wetlands with lots of decaying organic matter. South of the U.S., they may use different habitats including estuaries and mangroves.
Notes:
Description & Habitat information from:
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/blue-winged_teal/id
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