Species: Anas discors

Blue-winged Teal

Species

Birds

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Salish Sea-reliant birds

Terrestrial vertebrates: birds

Encyclopedia of Puget Sound

Classification

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Craniata

Class

Aves

Order

Anseriformes

Family

Anatidae

Genus

Anas

NatureServe

Source:
ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.106246

Classification

Other Global Common Names

Cerceta Ala Azul, Pato Media Luna, Pato de Alas Az - Marreca-Sará - sarcelle à ailes bleues

Informal Taxonomy

Animals, Vertebrates - Birds - Waterfowl

Formal Taxonomy

Animalia - Craniata - Aves - Anseriformes - Anatidae - Anas - (AOU 1983). See Livezey (1991) for a phylogenetic analysis and classification (supergenera, subgenera, infragenera, etc.) of dabbling ducks based on comparative morphology. See Jackson (1991) for information on identification of North American teal.

Ecology and Life History

Migration

false - false - true - Migrates north to breeding areas in late northern spring. Arrives in prairie breeding areas mainly in late April and May. Southward migration is relatively early. Begins to migrate south in August-September (Terres 1980), with males generally preceding females and immatures; most are gone from the upper Midwest by early October. Present in South America from early September to late April, rarely to early June (Hilty and Brown 1986). Arrives in Costa Rica September-October, departs by end of April or May (Stiles and Skutch 1989). Those wintering in South America begin moving northward through Mexico in January (Gammonley and Fredrickson 1995). Migrates usually in conspecific flocks.

Non-migrant

false

Locally Migrant

false

Food Comments

Omnivorous; feeds mainly in shallowly flooded wetlands. Feeds on vegetative parts of aquatic plants (algae, duckweeds, pondweeds, etc.) as well as seeds (sedges, pondweeds, grasses, etc.). Also consumes large amounts of aquatic invertebrates, which are especially important in the breeding season and in the diet of the young. See Gammonley and Fredrickson (1995) for further details.

Reproduction Comments

Nesting begins in late April in the Midwest. Peak nesting occurs usually in late May in the U.S., in early June in Canada (Gammonley and Fredrickson 1995). Clutch size 6-15 (usually 9-11). Incubation 23-27 days, by female. Nestlings precocial, tended by female. First flight of young occurs 35-44 days after hatching (Terres 1980). First breeds at one year; most yearling females nest. Renesting is likely if nest loss occurs early in laying period and/or when wetland conditions are good (Gammonley and Fredrickson 1995).

Ecology Comments

Nonbreeding: usually in flocks. A few weeks after incubation begins, males form molting flocks in or away from breeding areas. May feed with other dabbling ducks, coots, and shorebirds. The size of local breeding populations varies annually in response to habitat conditions. Has the highest annual mortality rate (reaching 65%) of all the dabbling ducks; this probably is due to hunting and the long over-ocean migration that most individuals experience. Large numbers of nests are lost to mammalian and avian predators. Most post-hatching mortality occurs in the first two weeks. Annual survival rate is somwehat over 50% in adults and 32-44% in juveniles (Gammonley and Fredrickson 1995).

Length

Weight

409

Conservation Status

NatureServe Global Status Rank

Global Status Last Reviewed

1996-11-21

Global Status Last Changed

1996-11-21

Other Status

LC - Least concern

Distribution

Conservation Status Map

Global Range

H - >2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles) - H - BREEDS: southern Canada south to southern California, New Mexico, central Texas, Louisiana, and North Carolina; also recently in Hawaii (Aimakapa Pond, Hawaii). Breeding abundance is highest in the prairie pothole region of the north-central U.S. and south-central Canada. NORTHERN WINTER: southern U.S. south to southern Peru, central Argentina, and southern Brazil (mainly to nothern South America); the most common and widespread migrant duck in Colombia and Costa Rica); common in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands; regular in recent years in Hawaii. Major wintering concentrations occur along the Gulf Coast of Mexico and in Caribbean coastal areas of Venezuela, Colombia, and Guyana (Gammonley and Fredrickson 1995). In the U.S., the highest winter densities occur in southern Texas and peninsular Florida (Root 1988).

Global Range Code

Global Range Description

>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)

ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.106246