Bird name:

Green-winged Teal

Anas crecca

Order

ANSERIFORMES

Family

Geese and Ducks (Anatidae)

Code 4

GWTE

Code 6

ANACRE

ITIS

175081

Breeding Location:

Marshes, freshwater, Swamps

Breeding Type:

Monogamous

Breeding Population:

Increasing

Egg Color:

Creamy white, light olive or buff

Number of Eggs:

6 - 18

Incubation Days:

20 - 24

Egg Incubator:

Female

Nest Material:

Grass, twigs, feathers, and leaves.

Migration:

Migratory

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General

Green-winged Teal: Small dabbling duck with pale, gray-barred sides and buff breast with a bold white bar down the side. Head is chestnut-brown with green ear patch. Bill is dark gray and legs and feet are olive-gray to gray-brown. Speculum is flashy green bordered with brown above and white below. Female is mottled brown with dark brown eye-line. Juvenile and eclipse male resemble female.

Range and Habitat

Green-Winged Teal: Breeds in northern Alaska, Manitoba, and Quebec south to California, Colorado, Nebraska, and New York. Spends winters in southern states and along the coasts. Preferred habitats include marshes, ponds, and marshy lakes.

Breeding and Nesting

Green-Winged Teal: Six to eighteen creamy white, light olive, or buff eggs are laid in a down-lined ground depression in tall grass, often several hundred yards from water. Incubation ranges from 20 to 24 days and is carried out by the female.

Foraging and Feeding

Green-Winged Teal: Eats seeds, aquatic plants, insects, mollusks, crustaceans, and tadpoles found while foraging in and adjacent to mudflats or while dabbling in shallow water.

Vocalization

Green-Winged Teal: Male makes a "KRICK-et" sound and the female emits a faint "quack."

Similar Species

Green-Winged Teal: None in range. In eclipse plumage, other eclipse male, female, and juvenile puddle ducks have longer bills and lack green speculum bordered with brown above and white below.

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

Breast

The upper front part of a bird.

Ear patch

Consists of soft, loose-webbed feathers on the side of the bird's head below and behind the eyes.

Speculum

The brightly colored area on the wing (secondaries of the wing) on several duck species.

4 and 6 letter alpha codes

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

Field Guide to Birds of North America