General

Cinnamon Teal: Small dabbling duck with scaled, dark brown upperparts and cinnamon-brown underparts, head and neck. General color of male varies from rufous-cinnamon to deep chestnut-red. Eyes are red; bill is relatively long and dark. White line divides green speculum and pale blue shoulder patch on wing. Females and juveniles are brown-scaled overall with dull blue shoulder patches, dark eyes, and pale edges around upper mandibles. Eclipse male resembles female but has faint cinnamon-brown wash over most of body, red eyes and dark bill.

Range and Habitat

Cinnamon Teal: Breeds in southwestern Canada and the United States near the Great Salt Lake, Malheur Basin, San Luis Valley and Cariboo-Chilcotin parklands. Winters in Mexico and Central America. They prefer small, shallow alkaline wetlands surrounded by low herbaceous cover, marshes and shallow ponds.

Breeding and Nesting

Cinnamon Teal: Mating pair bonds are renewed each season. Nine to twelve white or pink buff eggs are laid in a shallow cup of grass lined with down. The nest is built by the female and is usually hidden in tall vegetation 100 feet or more from water. Incubation ranges from 21 to 25 days and is carried out by the female. The young fly in about 49 days.

Foraging and Feeding

Cinnamon Teal: These birds are omnivores. Their diet consists of seeds, aquatic vegetation, plants, semi-terrestrial insects, snails and zooplankton. In shallowly flooded zones along wetland margins, they forage by skimming the water with their bill or dabbling below the surface. In deeper water they feed at the surface or in emergent or submergent vegetation.

Vocalization

Cinnamon Teal: Gives a thin whistled "peep" or "peer."

Similar Species

Cinnamon Teal: Ruddy Duck has a blue bill, large white cheek patch, and a dark cap.