Blue-winged teal

{{Short description|Species of bird}} {{Speciesbox | name = Blue-winged teal | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name=IUCN>{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |author-link= BirdLife International |year= 2021 |title= ''Spatula discors'' |article-number= e.T22680229A137731845 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-3.RLTS.T22680229A137731845.en |access-date=30 April 2023}}</ref> | status2 = G5 | status2_system = TNC | status2_ref = <ref name=NatureServe>{{cite web |title=''Spatula discors'' |url=https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.106246/Spatula_discors |website=NatureServe Explorer An online encyclopedia of life|version=7.1 |publisher=NatureServe |access-date=13 December 2023}}</ref> | image = Blue-Winged Teal.jpg | image_caption = Male in Texas | image2 = Blue-winged teal south padre island birding and nature center 4.3.23 DSC 0064-topaz-denoiseraw-sharpen.jpg | image2_caption = Female | genus = Spatula | species = discors | authority = (Linnaeus, 1766) | synonyms = *''Querquedula discors'' {{small|(Linnaeus, 1766)}} *''Anas discors'' {{small|Linnaeus, 1766}} | range_map = Spatula discors map.svg |range_map_caption = {{legend|#FF7F2A|Breeding}}{{legend|#FFDD55|Migration}}{{legend|#7137C8|Year-round}}{{legend|#5F8DD3|Nonbreeding}} }} {{birdsong|url=https://xeno-canto.org/species/Spatula-discors|species=Blue-winged Teal}}

The '''blue-winged teal''' ('''''Spatula discors''''') is a species of bird in the duck, goose, and swan family Anatidae. One of the smaller members of the dabbling duck group, it occurs in North America, where it breeds from southern Alaska to Nova Scotia, and south to northern Texas.<ref name=NatureServe/> It winters along the Pacific and Atlantic coasts and south into the Caribbean islands and Central America.

==Taxonomy== The first formal description of the blue-winged teal was by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1766 in the twelfth edition of his ''Systema Naturae''. He coined the binomial name ''Anas discors''.<ref>{{cite book | last=Linnaeus | first=Carl | author-link=Carl Linnaeus | year=1766 | title=Systema naturae: per regna tria natura, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis | edition=12th | volume=1, Part 1 | publisher=Laurentii Salvii | place=Holmiae (Stockholm) | language=la | page=205 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/42946401 }}</ref> A molecular phylogentic 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> The genus was subsequently split into four monophyletic genera with ten species including the blue-winged teal 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 genus had been 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=de | 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 ''discors'' is the Latin for "different" or "at variance".<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=137, 361 | url=https://archive.org/stream/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling#page/n137/mode/1up}}</ref>

==Description== right|150px|thumb|Call [[File:Blue-winged teal at Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge-5326.jpg|thumb|left|Blue-winged teal drake in flight at Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge]] The blue-winged teal is {{cvt|40|cm|in|sp=us}} long, with a wingspan of {{cvt|58|cm|in|sp=us}}, and a weight of {{cvt|370|g|oz|sp=us}}.<ref name="Floyd" /> The adult male has a greyish blue head with a white facial crescent, a light brown body with a white patch near the rear and a black tail. The adult female is mottled brown, and has a whitish area at base of bill. Both sexes have sky-blue wing coverts, a green speculum, and yellow legs.<ref name="Floyd" /><ref name="Dunn" /> They have two molts per year and a third molt in their first year.<ref name="Floyd" /> The call of the male is a short whistle; the female's call is a soft quack.<ref name="Floyd" />

==Distribution== The range is all of North America except western and northern Alaska, northern Yukon Territory, northern Northwest Territories and the northeastern area of Canada. Blue-winged teal are rare in the desert southwest, and the west coast. The breeding habitat of the blue-winged teal is marshes and ponds.<ref name="Floyd">{{cite book|last=Floyd|first= T.|year=2008|title=Smithsonian Field Guide to the Birds of North America|publisher=Harper Collins|location=New York |isbn =978-0-06-112040-4}}</ref><ref name="Dunn">{{cite book|last1=Dunn|first1= J. |last2= Alderfer|first2=J. |year=2006|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gA-rfkTZi1YC |title=National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America|publisher= National Geographic Books |edition=5th |isbn= 0-7922-5314-0}}</ref>

The breeding range extends from east-central Alaska and southern Mackenzie District east to southern Quebec and southwestern Newfoundland. In the contiguous United States it breeds from northeast California east to central Louisiana, central Tennessee, and the Atlantic Coast.<ref name=r4>{{cite journal|last=DeGraaf|first=Richard M. |year=1991|title= Forest and rangeland birds of the United States: Natural history and habitat use|journal= Agric. Handb.|issue= 688|location= Washington, DC|publisher=U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service|display-authors=etal}}</ref><ref name=r10/> The western blue-winged teal inhabits that part of the breeding range west of the Appalachian Mountains. Some populations of blue-winged teals nest along the Atlantic Coast from New Brunswick to Pea Island, North Carolina.<ref name=r1/>

They migrate in flocks to winter in to the south of its breeding range. During migration, some birds may fly long distances over open ocean. They are occasional vagrants to Europe, where their yellow legs are a distinction from other small ducks like the common teal and garganey,<ref name="Floyd" /><ref name="Dunn" /> and in recent years have been annual vagrants in Britain and Ireland.<ref>{{cite journal|journal=Irish Birds |title=Irish Rare Bird Report |volume=7 |year=2003|page=552}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|journal=Irish Birds |title=Irish Rare Bird Report |volume=8|year=2006–2007|pages= 397, 585}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|journal=Irish Birds |title=Irish Rare Bird Report |volume= 9 |year=2008|page= 79}}</ref> The blue-winged teal winters from southern California to western and southern Texas, the Gulf Coast to the Atlantic Coast, the Caribbean, and south to Central and South America. It is often seen wintering as far south as Brazil and central Chile.<ref name="Floyd" /><ref name="Dunn" /><ref name=r4/>

==Habitat== Blue-winged teal inhabit shoreline more often than open water and prefer calm water or sluggish currents to fast water. They inhabit inland marshes, lakes, ponds, pools, and shallow streams with dense emergent vegetation.<ref name=r4/> In coastal areas, breeding occurs in salt-marsh meadows with adjoining ponds or creeks.<ref name=r10/> Blue-winged teal use rocks protruding above water, muskrat houses, trunks or limbs of fallen trees, bare stretches of shoreline, or mud flats for resting sites.<ref name=r4/>

Blue-winged teal winter on shallow inland freshwater marshes and brackish and saltwater marshes.<ref name=r4/> They build their nests on dry ground in grassy sites such as bluegrass meadows, hayfields, and sedge meadows. They will also nest in areas with very short, sparse vegetation.<ref name=r6/> Blue-winged teal generally nest within several hundred yards of open water; however, nests have been found as far as {{cvt|1.61|km|mi|0}} away from water.<ref name=r1/> Where the habitat is good, they nest communally.<ref name=r4/>

Blue-winged teal often use heavy growth of bulrushes and cattails as escape cover.<ref name=r2/> Grasses, sedges, and hayfields provide nesting cover for these ducks.<ref name=r6/> Erik Fritzell reported that blue-winged teal nests located in light to sparse cover were more successful than those in heavy cover. Nesting success was 47% on grazed areas and 14% on ungrazed areas.<ref name=r6>{{cite journal|last=Fritzell|first=Erik K. |year=1975|title=Effects of agricultural burning on nesting waterfowl|journal= Canadian Field-Naturalist|volume=89|pages=21–27|doi=10.5962/p.344797 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/28032743|doi-access=free}}</ref>

The blue-winged teal is primarily found in the northern prairies and parklands. It is the most abundant duck in the mixed-grass prairies of the Dakotas and the prairie provinces of Canada. The blue-winged teal is also found in wetlands of boreal forest associations, shortgrass prairies, tallgrass prairies, and deciduous woodlands.<ref name=r1/>

This duck commonly inhabits wetland communities dominated by bulrush (''Scirpus'' spp.), cattail (''Typha'' spp.), pondweed (''Potamogeton'' spp.), sedges (''Carex'' spp.), widgeongrass (''Ruppia maritima''), and other emergent and aquatic vegetation.<ref name=r1/><ref name=r2/> During molting, it often remains among extensive beds of bulrushes and cattails. The blue-winged teal favors areas dominated by bluegrass (''Poa'' spp.) for nesting. Hayfields and plant communities of buckbrush (''Ceonothus cuneatus'') and sedges are also important as nest sites.<ref name=r1/>

==Behavior== [[File:Blue-winged Teals, Vancouver.jpg|thumb|Males and a female, Richmond, British Columbia]] [[File:Blue-winged Teal, in flight, Vancouver.jpg|thumb|In flight, Ladner, British Columbia]] These birds feed by dabbling in shallow water at the edge of marshes or open water.<ref name="Floyd" /> They mainly eat plants; their diet may include molluscs and aquatic insects.

Blue-winged teal are generally the first ducks south in the fall and the last ones north in the spring. Adult drakes depart the breeding grounds well before adult hens and immatures. Most blue-winged teal flocks seen after mid-September are composed largely of adult hens and immatures.<ref name=r1/> The northern regions experience a steady decline in blue-winged teal populations from early September until early November. Blue-winged teal in central migration areas tend to remain through September, then diminish rapidly during October, with small numbers remaining until December. Large numbers of blue-winged teal appear on wintering grounds in Florida, Louisiana, and Texas in September.<ref name=r1/>

===Reproduction=== [[File:Anas discors MHNT.ZOO.2010.11.32.6.jpg|thumb| ''Anas discors'' - MHNT]]

The onset of courtship among immature blue-winged teal often starts in late January or early February. In areas south of the breeding grounds, blue-winged teal are more active in courtship during the spring migration than are most other ducks.<ref name=r1/>

Blue-winged teal are among the last dabbling ducks to nest,<ref name=r1/> generally nesting between April 15 and May 15.<ref name=r1/><ref name=r2/> Few nests are started after mid-July.<ref name=r1/> Chronology of nesting can vary from year to year as a result of weather conditions. At Delta Marshes, Manitoba, blue-winged teal nesting was delayed a week in 1950 due to abnormally cold weather.<ref name=r1>{{cite book|last=Bellrose|first=Frank C.|year=1980|title=Ducks, geese and swans of North America|location=Harrisburg, PA|edition=3rd|publisher=Stackpole Books|isbn=0-8117-0535-8|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/ducksgeeseswanso00bell}}</ref> The nest is a shallow depression on the ground lined with grass and down, usually surrounded by vegetation.<ref name="nests">{{cite book |last1=McFarland |first1=Casey |title=Peterson Field Guide to North American Bird Nests |last2=Monjello |first2=Matthew |last3=Moskowitz |first3=David |date=2021 |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company |isbn=978-0-544-96338-2 |edition=1 |location=New York, New York |page=62}}</ref>

Blue-winged teal generally lay 10 to 12 eggs. Delayed nesting and re-nesting efforts have substantially smaller clutches, averaging five to six eggs. Clutch size can also vary with the age of the hen. Yearlings tend to lay smaller clutches.<ref name=r1/> Eggs measure 3.8–5.2 cm (1.5–2 in) in length and 2.9–3.7 cm (1.1–1.5 in) in width.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Blue-winged Teal Life History, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology |url=https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Blue-winged_Teal/lifehistory |access-date=2026-05-29 |website=www.allaboutbirds.org |language=en}}</ref> Incubation takes 21 to 27 days.<ref name=r10/><ref name=r1/><ref name=r2/> Blue-winged teal are sexually mature after their first winter. During incubation, the drake leaves its mate and moves to suitable molting cover where it becomes flightless for a period of 3 to 4 weeks.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Palmer |first1=Ralph S. |title=Bd. 2: Waterfowl (first part) whistling ducks, swans, geese, sheld - ducks, dabbling - ducks |date=1976 |publisher=Yale University Press |location=New Haven, CT, USA |isbn=0-300-01902-5}}</ref>

Blue-winged teal ducklings can walk to water within 12 hours after hatching but do not fledge until 6 to 7 weeks.<ref name=r10>{{cite book|last=Johnsgard|first= Paul A.|author-link=Paul Johnsgard|year= 1979|title=A guide to North American waterfowl|location=Bloomington, IN|publisher= Indiana University Press|isbn=0-253-12789-0}}</ref><ref name=r2>{{cite book|last=Bennett|first= Logan J. |year=1938|title= The blue-winged teal: Its ecology and management|location=Ames, IA|publisher=Collegiate Press}}</ref>

===Food habits=== [[File:Blue winged teals1c.jpg|thumb|Males in Sarpy County, Nebraska]] Blue-winged teal are surface feeders and prefer to feed on mud flats, in fields, or in shallow water where there is floating and shallowly submerged vegetation plus abundant small aquatic animal life. They mostly eat vegetative matter consisting of seeds or stems and leaves of sedge, grass, pondweed, smartweed (''Polygonum'' spp.), duckweed (''Lemna'' spp.), Widgeongrass, and muskgrass (''Chara'' spp.).<ref name=r4/><ref name=r10/><ref name=r1/> The seeds of plants that grow on mud flats, such as nutgrass (''Cyperus'' spp.), smartweed, millet (''Panicum'' spp.), and Rice Cut-grass (''Leersia oryzoides''), are avidly consumed by this duck.<ref name=r1/> One-fourth of the food consumed by blue-winged teal is animal matter such as mollusks, crustaceans, and insects.<ref name=r4/><ref name=r10/><ref name=r1/> thumb|Juveniles surface feeding

==Predators== Common predators of blue-winged teal include humans, snakes, snapping turtles (''Chleydra serpentina''), dogs, cats, muskellunge (''Esox masquinongy''), American crows (''Corvus brachyrhynchos''), magpies (''Pica'' spp.), ground squirrels, coyotes (''Canis latrans''), red foxes (''Vulpes fulva''), gray foxes (''Urocyon cinereoargenteus''), raccoons (''Procyon lotor''), long-tailed weasels (''Mustela frenata''), American minks (''Mustela vison''), striped skunks (''Mephitis mephitis''), spotted skunks (''Spilogale putorius''), and American badgers (''Taxidea taxus'').<ref name=r1/><ref name=r2/>

During one study, about half of the nest failures of blue-winged teal were caused by mammals. Striped and Spotted Skunks were responsible for two-thirds of these losses. All nest losses caused by birds were attributed to either crows or magpies.<ref name=r1/>

==References== {{USDA|article=Anas discors|url=http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/animals/bird/andi/all.html}} {{Reflist|35em}}

==Further reading== *{{cite journal|last1=Olson|first1= Storrs L.|last2= James|first2= Helen F. |last3= Meister|first3= C. A. |year=1981|title=Winter field notes and specimen weights of Cayman Island birds|journal=Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club|volume=101|issue=3|pages= 339–346|hdl=10088/6535}} *{{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}} *{{cite journal|journal=Wilson Bulletin|volume=18|pages=47–60|url=http://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/wilson/v018n02/p0047-p0060.pdf|issue=2|title=A Preliminary List of the Birds of Seneca County, Ohio|date=June 1906 |first=W. F. |last=Henninger}}

==External links== {{Commons category|Spatula discors}} {{Wikispecies|Anas discors}} * [https://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/i1400id.html Blue-winged Teal - ''Anas discors''] - USGS Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter * [https://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Blue-winged_Teal.html Blue-winged Teal Species Account] – Cornell Lab of Ornithology * [https://web.archive.org/web/20060615214040/http://www.enature.com/fieldguides/detail.asp?recnum=BD0394 Blue-winged Teal Information] at eNature.com * {{InternetBirdCollection|blue-winged-teal-anas-discors|Blue-winged Teal}} * {{VIREO|Blue-winged+Teal|Blue-winged Teal}} * {{IUCN_Map|22680229|Anas discors}}

blue-winged teal Category:Birds of North America Category:Birds of Canada Category:Birds of the United States Category:Meso-American wintering birds Category:Wintering birds of South America blue-winged teal Category:Animal taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Category:Least concern biota of the United States