General

Blue-winged Teal: Small dabbling duck; purple-grey head and distinct white crescent on face. Upperparts are scaled buff and dark brown; underparts are pale brown with dark spots. Wings have green speculum and pale blue shoulder patch. Female has no purple on head, shows white at base of bill, and has scaled instead of spotted underparts. Juvenile resembles female; has plainer upperparts and more heavily spotted underparts; young male has brighter metallic green on speculum and a more distinct white stripe than young female; lacks white at base of bill.

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. Rare vagrant to the UK and Ireland.

Breeding and Nesting

Blue-winged Teal: Pair formation begins in the winter and continues through spring during their migration. Six to fifteen white to olive eggs are laid in a ground hollow filled with grass and weeds and lined with down. The nest is built by the female and is usually hidden in tall grass near water. The female incubates the eggs for 22 to 27 days. The young fly in 35 to 49 days.

Foraging and Feeding

Blue-winged Teal: These birds limit foraging to aquatic areas in the shallow water and mudflats. The majority of their diet is plant matter, particularly seeds. Only during the period just before and during egg-laying do adult females consume large amounts of aquatic invertebrates, mainly insect larva, and snails, to meet the heightened protein requirements for egg production., Blue-winged Teal: These birds limit foraging to aquatic areas in the shallow water and mudflats. The majority of their diet is plant matter, particularly seeds. Only during the period just before and during egg-laying do adult females consume large amounts of aquatic invertebrates, mainly insect larva, and snails, to meet the heightened protein requirements for egg production.

Vocalisation

Blue-winged Teal: Utters a high whistled "tsee tsee."

Similar Species

Blue-winged Teal: Male resembles female Scaup but has a dark, not yellow iris. Male Garganey has white stripe running from the eye to the nape. All other brown mottled ducks in range lack the female's white eye ring.