Common Teal (Anas crecca) — identification, habitat & look-alikes

The Common Teal, usually called Green-winged Teal in the United States, is North America's smallest . Green-winged Teal feed at the surface or tip tail-up in shallow water. Males have a chestnut head with a green patch behind the eye, while females are mottled brown with a green wing patch.

Appearance

Appearance: At about 14 in (36 cm) long, it is compact with a small bill. An American male has a chestnut head, green eye patch, gray body, and vertical white shoulder bar; females are mottled brown with a green .

Look-alikes

Blue-winged TealSpatula discors

A female Blue-winged Teal (Spatula discors) is grayer, often has a pale spot at the bill base, and shows a powder-blue forewing patch in flight. A female Green-winged Teal is smaller, lacks that pale bill-base spot, and has whitish, unspotted feathers under the tail.

Why they get mixed upBoth are small dabbling ducks, and females of both are mottled brown with a green wing patch.

Where it lives

Typical habitats: shallow marshes
ponds
flooded fields
coastal wetlands
Range: The American form breeds mainly in Canada, Alaska, and parts of the northern United States, then winters widely in the western and southern United States and Mexico. The Eurasian form appears casually along both US coasts.
Seasonal presence: It is a widespread migrant and winter resident in much of the United States, with breeding concentrated in the north.
Preferred conditions: It favors shallow water with mudflats or aquatic plants where small food items are easy to reach.
When it’s recorded: Recorded year-round, every year
28,045 observations in the US · 10 years · for referenceChoose a state

Behavior

Diet: It eats seeds, aquatic plants, and small animals without backbones, taking whichever foods are abundant in shallow water and flooded fields.
Activity: It usually dabbles at the surface, tips tail-up to reach underwater, or probes mud; it can spring directly from the water into fast flight.
Social life: Courtship begins in fall and peaks in January and February, and winter roosting flocks can be very large.

Life cycle

Nest: The female hides a grass-and-leaf nest on the ground, usually within about 200 yards (180 m) of water.
Clutch size: 6–9 eggs
Incubation: 20–23 days
Fledging: Downy chicks can swim and feed within hours of hatching, while the female continues to guard and warm them.

Name and classification

About the name: The American Green-winged Teal (A. c. carolinensis) and Eurasian Green-winged Teal (A. c. crecca) are . The Eurasian male has a horizontal white side stripe. Researchers differ on whether to treat the American form as a separate species, Anas carolinensis. Birds with ancestry from both forms have also been recorded.

Conservation

IUCN Red List: LCLeast ConcernLow risk of extinction
Status: North American numbers increased between 1966 and 2019, although healthy wetlands remain important throughout migration and winter.

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