Blue-winged Teal
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The Blue-winged Teal (Anas discors) is a small dabbling duck.
Description:
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.
Both sexes have a blue wing patch. In flight, they flap their wings especially rapidly.
Distribution / Habitat:
Their breeding habitat is marshes and ponds throughout north and central North America. The nest is a shallow depression on the ground lined with grass and down, usually surrounded by vegetation.
They migrate in flocks to Central and South America. 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 Common Teal and Garganey.
Diet / Feeding:
These birds feed by dabbling in shallow water. They mainly eat plants; their diet may include molluscs and aquatic insects.
Feeding Ducks ...
We all enjoy these beautiful birds and many of us offer them food to encourage them to come over and stay around - and it works! Who doesn't like an easy meal!
However, the foods that we traditionally feed them at local ponds are utterly unsuitable for them and are likely to cause health problems down the road. Also, there may be local laws against feeding this species of bird - so it's best to check on that rather than facing consequences at a later stage.
- Click here to find out which foods to feed them that will offer the nutrition they need to survive a cold winter and remain healthy
Call / Song:
The call of the male is a short whistle; the female's call is a soft quack.
Copyright: Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from Wikipedia.org ... Additional info added by Avianweb
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