Green-winged Teal

Description

The Green-winged Teal is the smallest of the dabblers in North America. The male has a gray body and back, with a green patch on the back of the wings that’s noticeable in flight. The male’s head is brick red in color with a green eye patch, like male American Wigeons. The female Green-winged Teal is very similar to the male plumage outside of breeding season. The females are light brown, also with a green patch on the back of the wings that’s visible during flight and occasionally at rest.

The male Blue-winged Teal (A. discors) looks very different from male Green-winged Teal. It has a dark bluish head with a white crescent shape across the front of the face. The male body is a light brown with a black tail, the female is a similar brown but without the black tail. Both male and female have sky blue shoulders and green speculums that are visible in flight.

Habitat and Status

The Green-winged Teal is a resident of the Chugach Region, occurring seasonally as an abundant migrant, a common breeder. and a rare winter visitor. They breed in the shallow waters and small ponds and pools within wetlands. They often nest in depressions on dry ground located at the base of shrubs, under a log, or in dense grass, sometimes as far as 300 feet from water. During winter, Green-winged Teal use freshwater or brackish marshes, ponds, streams, and estuaries. As they are smaller birds, however, they tend to stay in the calmer water.

Blue-winged Teal currently breeds in grassland to the west and east of Alaska. They are rare migrants to the Chugach Region, although they are probable breeders (Isleib and Kessel 1973). However, Audubon’s climate modeling suggests a significant shift in summer range by 2080, well into Alaska including the western Kenai Peninsula.

Green-winged Teal are common nesters throughout the Chugach Region. Blue-winged Teal, however, breed in grasslands further east and south in Canada and are not likely to appear in the Chugach Region.