Puna teal

{{Short description|Species of bird}} {{Speciesbox | name = Puna teal | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 25 September 2021">{{cite iucn |author1=BirdLife International |date=2016 |title=''Spatula puna'' |volume=2016 |article-number=e.T22680326A92855733 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22680326A92855733.en |access-date=25 September 2021}}</ref> | image = Puna Teal (Anas puna) RWD.jpg | image_caption = A puna teal at Sylvan Heights Waterfowl Park in Scotland Neck, North Carolina. | genus = Spatula | species = puna | authority = (Tschudi, 1844) | synonyms = ''Anas versicolor puna''<br />''Anas puna'' <br />''Punanetta puna'' | range_map = Spatula puna map.svg }}

The '''Puna teal''' ('''''Spatula puna''''') is a species of dabbling duck in the family Anatidae. It was at one time regarded as a subspecies of the Silver teal (''Spatula versicolor'').

The Puna teal is resident in the Andes of Peru, western Bolivia, northern Chile, and extreme northwestern Argentina.<ref name="iucn status 25 September 2021" /><ref name="Clements">Clements, J. (2007)</ref> It is found on the larger lakes and pools in the altiplano.

The status of the Puna teal is Least Concern, as listed on the IUCN Red List.<ref name="iucn status 25 September 2021" />

==Taxonomy== The first formal description of the Puna teal was by the Swiss naturalist Johann Jakob von Tschudi in 1844 under the binomial name ''Anas puna''.<ref>{{ cite journal | last=Tschudi | first=Johann Jakob von | author-link=Johann Jakob von Tschudi | year=1844 | title=Avium conspectus | journal=Archiv für Naturgeschichte | volume= 10 Part 1 | pages=262–317 [315–316] | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/9697456 }}</ref> It was at one time considered a subspecies of the Silver teal in the genus ''Anas''.<ref>{{ cite book | editor1-last=Mayr | editor1-first=Ernst | editor1-link=Ernst Mayr | editor2-last=Cottrell | editor2-first=G. William | year=1979 | title=Check-list of Birds of the World | volume=1 | edition=2nd | publisher=Museum of Comparative Zoology | place=Cambridge, Massachusetts | page=475 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/16109115 }}</ref>

A molecular phylogenetic study comparing mitochondrial DNA sequences published in 2009 found that the genus ''Anas'', as then defined, was non-monophyletic.<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Gonzalez | first1=J. | last2=Düttmann | first2=H. | last3=Wink | first3=M. | year=2009 | title=Phylogenetic relationships based on two mitochondrial genes and hybridization patterns in Anatidae | journal=Journal of Zoology | volume=279 | issue=3 | pages=310–318 | doi=10.1111/j.1469-7998.2009.00622.x }}</ref> This resulted in the split of the genus into four monophyletic genera with ten species, including the Puna teal, which moved into the resurrected genus ''Spatula''.<ref name="ioc">{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | year=2017 | title=Screamers, ducks, geese & swans | work=World Bird List Version 7.3 | url=http://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/waterfowl/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=23 July 2017 }}</ref> This marked the change of the Puna teal from a subspecies into a monotypic species.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Puna Teal Spatula Puna Species Factsheet |url=https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/puna-teal-spatula-puna#Ecology |access-date=2025-11-05 |website=BirdLife DataZone |language=en}}</ref> The genus ''Spatula'' was originally proposed by the German zoologist Friedrich Boie in 1822.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Boie | first=Friedrich | author-link=Friedrich Boie | year=1822 | title=Generalübersicht | journal=Isis von Oken | volume=1822 | at=Col 564| language=German | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/27515513 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | editor1-last=Mayr | editor1-first=Ernst | editor1-link=Ernst Mayr | editor2-last=Cottrell | editor2-first=G. William | year=1979 | title=Check-list of Birds of the World | volume=1 | edition=2nd | publisher=Museum of Comparative Zoology | place=Cambridge, Massachusetts | page=460 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/16109100 }}</ref> The name ''Spatula'' is the Latin for a "spoon" or "spatula". The specific epithet ''puna'' is from the Puna de Atacama, a plateau in the Andes.<ref>{{cite book | last=Jobling | first=James A. | year=2010| title= The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | publisher=Christopher Helm | location=London | isbn= 978-1-4081-2501-4 | pages=324, 361 | url=https://archive.org/stream/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling#page/n324/mode/1up}}</ref>

==Description== [[File:Anas puna -WWT Slimbridge, Gloucestershire, England-8a.jpg|left|thumb|At WWT Slimbridge, England]]

=== Appearance === The Puna teal is larger than its closely related species, the Silver teal (''Spatula versicolor''). It measures about 48 cm (19 in) long, similar in size to a wood duck. Males typically weigh between 546 to 560 g and have a wingspan of 215-235 mm. Their bill is 47-53 mm long, compared to 37-41 mm in ''S. versicolor''.<ref name=":0" />

Puna teals are easily recognized by their distinctive head and bill patterns. Adult males have a blackish-brown cap that extends below the eyes. They have a creamy white lower face and neck, a coffee-colored back, chest, and flank, and a dark brown rear flank. Their neck and chest are covered in small, dark brown spots that turn into bars on the back, chest, and flanks. Their rump and upper tail coverts appear grey. Their upper wing coverts are a dull blue color, greater secondary coverts are white-tipped, and they have an iridescent green speculum with posterior black and white bars. Their underwings are banded with grey. Their legs and feet are grey, and they have brown eyes and a distinctive light blue bill with a black nail and culmen.<ref name=":0" />

Females are typically duller in color than males and have less distinct barring patterns on their flanks. Juveniles are also duller, with a less iridescent speculum and less contrasting head. Chicks have brown upper down and greyish-white lower down, with pairs of white dorsal spots along their wings and sides. They also have a narrow black eyestripe that trails back to their nape, and a greyish-blue colored bill that is larger than that of young ''S. versicolor'' individuals.<ref name=":0" />

One case of leucism has been documented in this species, observed in the Huaypo Lake between the Peruvian provinces of Anta and Urubamba. The affected individual had a white head and neck, while the rest of its body retained the species' normal coloration.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Venero G. |first=José Luis |title=Leucismo en Pato Puna (Anas puna) en la laguna de Huaypo, Cuzco - Perú |url=https://boletinunop.weebly.com/uploads/6/2/2/6/62265985/bolet%C3%ADn_unop_vol._9_n%C2%B03_2014_-_venero.pdf |journal=UNOP Boletín de la Unión de Ornitólogos del Perú}}</ref>

=== Anatomy and Physiology === As a high-altitude resident waterfowl, Puna teals show morphological adaptations in their respiratory systems compared to lower-elevation species. Studies on Lake Titicaca found that the Puna teal has larger mass-specific volumes of the lungs, secondary bronchi, parabronchi, and gas exchange tissues. They also have a higher proportion of blood vessels in their lungs. Their adapted respiratory structure allows for more efficient oxygen uptake, likely as an evolutionary response to living at high altitudes.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Laguë |first1=Sabine L. |last2=Ivy |first2=Catherine M. |last3=York |first3=Julia M. |last4=Dawson |first4=Neal J. |last5=Chua |first5=Beverly A. |last6=Alza |first6=Luis |last7=Scott |first7=Graham R. |last8=McCracken |first8=Kevin G. |last9=Milsom |first9=William K. |date=2025-02-27 |title=Gas exchange, oxygen transport and metabolism in high-altitude waterfowl |journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |volume=380 |issue=1920 |article-number=20230424 |doi=10.1098/rstb.2023.0424|pmid=40010396 |pmc=11864830 }}</ref>

== Habitat and Distribution == The Puna teal is a non-migratory bird native to the Neotropical realm of South America.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Spatula puna (Puna Teal) - Avibase |url=https://avibase.bsc-eoc.org/species.jsp?avibaseid=86B0BAFA |access-date=2025-11-06 |website=avibase.bsc-eoc.org}}</ref> Its range is confined to the Puna zone of the Andes Mountains, extending from central Peru (around the Junín region) southward through western Bolivia, northern Chile (as far south as Antofagasta), and into the extreme northwest of Argentina (Jujuy Province).<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />

This species is restricted to high-altitude environments, typically found at elevations up to 4,600 m (15,100 ft).<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last1=del Hoyo |first1=Josep |last2=Collar |first2=Nigel |last3=Kirwan |first3=Guy M. |editor-first1=Josep |editor-first2=Andrew |editor-first3=Jordi |editor-first4=David |editor-first5=Eduardo |editor-last1=Del Hoyo |editor-last2=Elliott |editor-last3=Sargatal |editor-last4=Christie |editor-last5=De Juana |title=Puna Teal - Spatula puna |chapter=Puna Teal (Spatula puna) |date=2020 |chapter-url=https://doi-org.proxy3.library.mcgill.ca/10.2173/bow.puntea1.01 |access-date=2025-11-06 |doi=10.2173/bow.puntea1.01 }}</ref> It inhabits various freshwater wetland types, favoring weakly alkaline lakes, swamps, and bogs with abundant floating vegetation, particularly the aquatic plant genus ''Chara''.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" />

==Behavior== === Diet and Feeding === Puna teals mostly feed on plants and seeds, but also often eat invertebrates.<ref name=":1" /> As dabbling ducks, they typically feed in the water by tipping forward till they are upside down, to get food from the bottom of water bodies, such as ponds. Their bills are specialized for removing food from the water using plates called lamellae, which are aligned along the edges of the bill and vary in length and distance between one another.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dabbling ducks |url=https://www.sfu.ca/biology/wildberg/species/dabbducks.html#:~:text=This%20feeding%20behaviour%20is%20referred,the%20bottom%20of%20a%20pond |access-date=2025-11-06 |website=www.sfu.ca}}</ref>

=== Mating and Reproduction === [[File:Anas puna MHNT.ZOO.2010.11.34.4.jpg|thumb| ''Anas puna'' - MHNT|242x242px]]The first breeding event usually occurs at one year old.<ref name=":1" /> The species is mostly monogamous, though some males exhibit polygyny to some extent to carry out extra-pair copulations.<ref name=":2" /> In the wild, they live either in single pairs, or in small groups, consisting of Puna teals alone or mixed with Silver teals.<ref name=":2" />

Puna teals nest on the ground in rough vegetation such as long grass, not always close to the water.<ref name=":2" /> They lay their eggs between April and June, and the eggs are a creamy pink color. Clutch size ranges from 5 to 8 eggs, and chicks usually weigh around 25 g at hatching.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /> Females incubate the eggs alone for approximately 25 days, but, like swans and geese, both parents rear the ducklings.<ref name=":2" /> Males accompany the brood and defend the female during the fledging period.<ref name=":2" /> The relationship between the male and female may be long-term.<ref>{{cite web |title=Puna teal |url=http://www.avesdechile.cl/009en.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090111011737/http://www.avesdechile.cl/009en.htm |archive-date=11 January 2009 |work=Aves de Chile}}</ref>

=== Migration === Puna teals are mainly non-migratory, sedentary birds, but they carry out altitudinal shifts outside their breeding season, descending from their breeding locations in the high Andes to lower elevations in response to decreased resource abundance.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Lastra |first1=Carolina C. |last2=Echevarria |first2=Ada L. |date=2024-03-21 |title=Primeros registros de Pato Puneño (Spatula puna) y Guayata (Oressochen melanoptera) en el embalse El Cadillal, provincia de Tucumán, Argentina |url=https://nuestrasaves.avesargentinas.org.ar/home/article/view/1023 |journal=Nuestras Aves |language=es |issue=69 |pages=95–96 |doi=10.56178/na.vi69.1023 |issn=3008-8305|doi-access=free }}</ref> During these periods, individuals can be observed in lowlands and occasionally along the coast of Peru.<ref name=":2" />{{Birdsong|species = ''Spatula puna''|url = http://www.xeno-canto.org/species/Spatula-puna|image=Puna Teal - WWT Slimbridge - Explored -) (20806408792).jpg}} === Vocalizations === The Puna teal's call differs from the Silver teal's. Its "decrescendo" call is shorter, consisting of only 4-5 weaker notes. Other reported vocalizations include a low, chatting sound ("hueer, pt pt pt..."), a mechanical, rising trill ("trrrrr" or "dr-r-r"), and a low alarm call ("whr" or "errr").<ref name=":2" /> == Relationship with Humans == The Puna teal is one of the bird species found in Lake Titicaca, a lake on the border of Peru and Bolivia, which is utilized as a food source by the local population. A 2019 study determined that its meat has high moisture (71-76%) and protein contents (18-22%), with low levels of carbohydrates and ash (under 1%). When tested for their sensory acceptance by a panel of judges not accustomed to consuming this type of meat, their meat was not accepted, and its organoleptic qualities were rated as fair.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Loza-Del Carpio |first1=Alfredo |last2=Mamani Flores |first2=Julio |last3=Loza-Del Carpio |first3=José |date=2019 |title=Proximal composition and organoleptic acceptability of the meat of five species of game birds of Lake Titicaca, Peru |journal=Ecosistemas y Recursos Agropecuarios |language=en |volume=6 |issue=16 |pages=103–114 |doi=10.19136/era.a6n16.1894 |issn=2007-9028|doi-access=free }}</ref>

== Conservation ==

=== Population and Threats === The Puna teal is currently listed as Least Concern by the IUCN.<ref name="iucn status 25 September 2021" /> As of 2023, the population size is estimated at 100,000 to 1,000,000 individuals, equating to approximately 66,700 to 667,000 mature individuals.<ref name=":0" /> Its habitat is largely undisturbed, and overall, the population is considered stable.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" />

However, localized declines have been observed in Lake Junín in Peru. As of 2014, Puna teal numbers have decreased significantly in Lake Junín compared to estimates from previous years. This regional decline was likely linked to the loss of ''Chara'', a preferred food for Puna teals, which is likely disappearing due to increased eutrophication, siltation, and heavy metal contamination.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Dinesen |first1=Lars |last2=Chamorro |first2=Alan |last3=Fjeldså |first3=Jon |last4=Aucca |first4=Constantino |date=2019 |title=Long-term declines in waterbirds abundance at Lake Junín, Andean Peru |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/bird-conservation-international/article/longterm-declines-in-waterbirds-abundance-at-lake-junin-andean-peru/3641C551E7273EB5D809774C59218936 |journal=Bird Conservation International |language=en |volume=29 |issue=1 |pages=83–99 |doi=10.1017/S0959270918000230 |issn=0959-2709}}</ref> Additionally, some populations face pressure from hunting.<ref name=":2" />

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links==

* [http://www.wildfowl-photography.co.uk/wildfowl/puna-teal.htm Puna Teal Pictures and Further Information.] * [https://xeno-canto.org/species/Spatula-puna Puna Teal Vocalizations.] * Slager, D.L. & Chesser, T.R. (2018). [https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCprop787.htm Revise the generic classification and linear sequence of ''Anas'']''.''

* {{cite book|last=Clements|first= James|year=2007|url=https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/cup_detail.taf?ti_id=4566 |title=The Clements Checklist of the Birds of the World|publisher= Cornell University Press|location= Ithaca}} *[https://app.mybirdbuddy.com/birds/puna-teal/e6b8fa5e-f3fd-4c90-b100-d6063e528f11 Puna Teal Information.] *[https://media.ebird.org/catalog?birdOnly=true&taxonCode=puntea1&mediaType=photo&sort=rating_rank_desc Puna Teal eBird Pictures.]

Puna teal Puna teal Category:Birds of the Puna grassland Puna teal Puna teal