ODNR Division of Wildlife - A to Z Species Guide - Blue-winged Teal

Blue-winged Teal

blue-winged teal 

Puddle ducks are typically birds of fresh, shallow marshes and rivers rather than of large lakes and bays. They are good divers, but usually feed by dabbling or tipping rather than by submerging. Any duck feeding in croplands will likely be a puddle duck, for most of this group are surefooted and can walk and run well on land. Their diet consists of mostly vegetation.

Blue-winged teal are our least hardy waterfowl, often not arriving until May and sometimes departing in August. They are very rare in the winter.


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Blue-winged Teal
Anas discors

At-a-Glance

• Type: Puddle Duck

• Incubation: 23-27 days

• Clutch Size: 6-15 eggs

• Young Fledge: 35-44 days after hatching

• Typical Foods: vegetation, seeds, and aquatic invertebrates
Description
The secondary coverts of this teal are blue with no white margin, although there may be some white between their blue secondary coverts and speculum. The speculum is green and the males can be identified by a white crescent in front of their eye.

Habitat and Habits
Their small size and twisting turning flight gives the illusion of great speed. The small, compact flocks commonly fly low over the marshes. They can be easy to miss because blue-winged teal like to lurk in relatively dense marsh vegetation, as do other teal.  Drakes make a rather harsh, low quacking sound - kek, kek, kek - and females can sound similar, but less harsh. The males often can be heard delivering a rather melodious peeping sound, often given in flight.

Reproduction and Care of the Young
The nest is a down-lined hollow concealed in grass near water. Unlike other dabbling ducks that form pairs in the fall, this teal begins courting in the spring and often does not acquire the familiar breeding plumage until December or January.