Eurasian teal

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Eurasian teal
Wintering male from Mangaon, Maharashtra, India
Calls

Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Anseriformes
Family: Anatidae
Genus: Anas
Species:
A. crecca
Binomial name
Anas crecca
Distribution map
light green : nesting area
blue : wintering area
dark green : resident all year
Synonyms

Anas crecca crecca Linnaeus, 1758
Anas crecca nimia Friedmann, 1948

The Eurasian teal (Anas crecca), common teal, or Eurasian green-winged teal is a common and widespread

dabbling ducks in much of its range.[3] The bird gives its name to the blue-green colour teal
.

It is a highly gregarious duck outside the breeding season and can form large flocks. It is commonly found in sheltered wetlands and feeds on seeds and aquatic invertebrates. The North American green-winged teal (A. carolinensis) was formerly (and sometimes is still) considered a subspecies of A. crecca.

Taxonomy

The Eurasian teal belongs to the "true" teals, a group of small

superspecies with the green-winged teal and the speckled teal (A. flavirostris). A proposed subspecies, A. c. nimia of the Aleutian Islands, differs only in slightly larger size; it is probably not distinct.[3][4][5]

Whether the Eurasian and green-winged teals are to be treated as one or two species is still being reviewed by the

nuptial plumage of their males, which continues to puzzle scientists, they seem well distinct species, as indicated by a wealth of behavioural, morphological, and molecular data.[4][5][7][8]

The Eurasian teal was first scientifically named by

freshwater ecosystems in Europe.[13]

The scientific name is from

German
Krickente mean the same.

  • A. crecca drake in nuptial plumage, showing horizontal white stripe from shoulder
    A. crecca drake in nuptial plumage, showing horizontal white stripe from shoulder
  • A. carolinensis (A. crecca carolinensis) drake in nuptial plumage, showing vertical white stripe from shoulder
    A. carolinensis (A. crecca carolinensis) drake in nuptial plumage, showing vertical white stripe from shoulder

Description

nuptial plumage and female. Male has the wide white wing stripe and conspicuous face markings, which gave the colour teal
its name.

The Eurasian teal is one of the smallest extant

dabbling ducks at 34–43 cm (13–17 in) length and with an average weight of 360 g (13 oz) in drake (males) and 340 g (12 oz) in hens (females). The wings are 17.5–20.4 cm (6.9–8.0 in) long, yielding a wingspan of 53–59 cm (21–23 in). The bill measures 3.2–4 cm (1.3–1.6 in) in length, and the tarsus 2.8–3.4 cm (1.1–1.3 in).[3][17]

From a distance, the drakes in

remiges are dark greyish brown; the speculum feathers are iridescent blackish-green with white tips, and form the speculum together with the yellowish-white tips of the larger upperwing coverts (which are otherwise grey). The underwing is whitish, with grey remiges, dense dark spotting on the inner coverts and a dark leading edge. The tail and tail coverts are black, with a bright yellowish-buff triangular patch in the center of the coverts at each side.[17]

In non-breeding (eclipse) plumage, the drake looks more like the hen; it is more uniform in colour, with a dark head and vestigial facial markings. The hen itself is yellowish-brown, somewhat darker on wings and back. It has a dark greyish-brown upper head, hindneck, eyestripe and feather pattern. The pattern is dense short streaks on the head and neck, and scaly spots on the rest of the body; overall they look much like a tiny

rectrices have yellowish-white tips; the midbelly is whitish with some dark streaking.[17]

Immatures are coloured much like hens, but have a stronger pattern. The downy young are coloured like in other dabbling ducks: brown above and yellow below, with a yellow supercilium. They are recognizable by their tiny size however, weighing just 15 g (0.53 oz) at hatching.[3][17][18]

The drake's bill is dark grey, in eclipse plumage often with some light greenish or brownish hue at the base. The bill of hens and immatures is pinkish or yellowish at the base, becoming dark grey towards the tip; the grey expands basewards as the birds age. The feet are dark grey in males and greyish

olive or greyish-brown in females and immatures. The iris is always brown.[17]

Moults during summer. Male in eclipse resembles female, but with darker upperparts and grey bill. Flight feathers are moulted simultaneously and birds are flightless for up to 4 weeks.[19]

This is a noisy species. The male whistles cryc or creelycc, not loud but very clear and far-carrying. The female has a feeble keh or neeh

quack. [17]

Males in nuptial plumage are distinguished from

vertical white bar at the breast sides, and the quite conspicuous light outlines of the face patch, which are indistinct in the green-winged teal drake. Males in eclipse plumage, females and immatures are best recognised by their small size, calls, and the speculum; they are hard to tell apart from the green-winged teal however.[17]

Distribution and habitat

Burdwan District of West Bengal (India
)

The Eurasian teal breeds across the

Asia Minor, along the northern shores of the Black Sea, and even on the south coast of Iceland and on the Vestmannaeyjar, the species can be encountered all year, too.[17]

In winter, there are high densities around the

Newfoundland.[21]

From tracking wintering teal in Italy, most individuals departed the wintering grounds between mid-February and March, using the Black-Sea-Mediterranean flyway to reach their breeding grounds, from central Europe to east of the Urals, by May. This slow migration is due to long stopovers near the start of migration, mainly in south-eastern Europe.[22]

Altogether, the Eurasian teal is much less common than its American counterpart, though still very plentiful. Its numbers are mainly assessed by counts of wintering birds; some 750,000 are recorded annually around the

Least Concern, unchanged from their assessment before the split of the more numerous A. carolinensis.[1][3][17]

The Eurasian teal is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (

AEWA
) applies.

Behaviour

Eggs

This

brackish waters and even in sheltered inlets and lagoons along the seashore.[17]

The Eurasian teal usually feeds by dabbling, upending or grazing; it may submerge its head and on occasion even dive to reach food. In the breeding season it eats mainly

nocturnal feeders.[17]

It nests on the ground, near water and under cover. The pairs form in the winter quarters and arrive on the breeding grounds together, starting about March. The breeding starts some weeks thereafter, not until May in the most northernly locations. The nest is a deep hollow lined with dry leaves and

eclipse plumage; they will usually encounter their offspring only in winter quarters. The clutch may consist of 5–16 eggs, but usually numbers 8–11; they are incubated for 21–23 days. The young leave the nest soon after hatching and are attended by the mother for about 25–30 days, after which they fledge. The drakes and the hens with young generally move to the winter quarters separately. After the first winter, the young moult into adult plumage. The maximum recorded lifespan – though it is not clear whether this refers to the common or the green-winged teal—was over 27 years, which is rather high for such a small bird.[17]

Notes

  1. ^ Aldrovandi's "first teal" was the Garganey, which was consequently scientifically described as Anas querquedula ("teal-duck").[13]

References

  1. ^
    doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T22680321A181692388.en
    . Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  2. doi:10.1139/z06-201
    .
  3. ^
    ISBN 84-87334-10-5
    .
  4. ^
    JSTOR 4088089
    .
  5. ^
    JSTOR 4089339
    .
  6. South American Classification Committee (2008). "Part 1. Struthioniformes to Cathartiformes, Version of 22 December 2008"
    . A classification of the bird species of South America. Retrieved 5 January 2009.
  7. S2CID 53155090
    .
  8. doi:10.1046/j.0019-1019.2001.00026.x
    .
  9. ^ Linnaeus, Carl (1746): 109. Anas macula alarum viridi: linea alba supra infraque oculos. In: Fauna Svecica Sistens Animalia Sveciæ Regni, etc. (1st ed.): 39–40 [in Latin]. Conrad & Georg Jacob Wishoff, Leiden ("Lugdunum Batavorum").
  10. ^ Gessner, Conrad (1555). Historiae animalium (in Latin). Vol. 3. Zürich [Tigurium]: Christoph Froschauer. pp. 103–105. Archived from the original on 2012-12-05. Retrieved 2009-01-06.
  11. ^ Aldrovandi, Ulisse (Ulyssis Aldrovandus) (1637). Ornithologia (in Latin). Vol. 3: Tomus tertius ac postremus (2nd ed.). Bologna [Bononia]: Nicolò Tebaldini. pp. 207–209. Archived from the original on 2012-12-11. Retrieved 2009-01-06.
  12. ^ Willughby, Francis (1676). Ornithologiae libri tres (in Latin). London: John Martyn. p. 290. Archived from the original on 2012-12-09.
  13. ^ a b Linnaeus, Carl (1758). Systema naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I. Editio decima, reformata. pp. 126–127.
  14. ^ Ray, John (Joannis Raii) (1713). Synopsis methodica avium & piscium: opus posthumum, etc (in Latin). Vol. 1. London: William Innys. pp. 147–148. Archived from the original on 2011-07-16. Retrieved 2009-01-06.
  15. ^ Albin, Eleazar (1731–1738): A natural history of the birds (3 volumes). William Innys, London. Vol.1, p.95, plate 100; vol. 2, p.91, plate 102
  16. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4
    .
  17. ^
    ISBN 0713636475
    .
  18. ^ "Anas crecca life history data". AnAge. 2009. Retrieved 6 January 2009.
  19. ISBN 978-1-4729-0647-2
    .
  20. ^ Wiles, Gary J.; Johnson, Nathan C.; de Cruz, Justine B.; Dutson, Guy; Camacho, Vicente A.; Kepler, Angela Kay; Vice, Daniel S.; Garrett, Kimball L.; Kessler, Curt C.; Pratt, H. Douglas (2004). "New and Noteworthy Bird Records for Micronesia, 1986–2003". Micronesica. 37 (1): 69–96.
  21. ^ eBird (2023). "Green-winged Teal". eBird Status and Trends, Data Version: 2022; Released: 2023. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  22. hdl:11568/920031
    .
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