Blue-winged Teal

Anas discorsOrder: ANSERIFORMES Family: Geese and Ducks (Anatidae)

Codes: Common Name: BWTE Scientific Name: ANADIS ITIS Taxonomic No.: 175086

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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.

Blue-winged Teal

Blue-winged Teal: Small dabbling duck, purple-gray head, distinct white crescent on face. Upperparts are scaled buff, dark brown; underparts are pale brown with numerous dark spots. Wings have green speculum, pale blue shoulder patch visible in flight. Fast direct flight with steady wing beats.

● Song: "tsee tsee"

● Foraging & Feeding: Blue-winged Teal: Diet includes aquatic invertebrates, aquatic vegetation, and seeds; forages in shallow water and mudflats.

● Breeding & nesting: Blue-winged Teal: Six to fifteen white to olive eggs are laid in a ground hollow filled with grass and weeds and lined with down. Nest is built by the female and usually hidden in tall grass near water. Incubation ranges from 22 to 27 days and is carried out by the female. Young fly in 35 to 49 days.

● Similar species: Blue-winged Teal: Adult male is unmistakable; immature and eclipse male resemble female.

Flight Pattern

Direct flight with steady quick wing beats.

● Range & 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.

^BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester

^PopulationCommon in the East, Uncommon in the West

^MigrationMigratory

^Weight14.4 Ounces

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

Blue-winged Teal

Blue-winged Teal

Flight Pattern