EURASIAN TEAL
EURASIAN TEAL (Anas crecca) – (See images below)
DESCRIPTION: The Eurasian or Common Teal is a small dabbling duck. The drake has a large ‘teal’ stripe on each side of the head which is reddish brown. The upper parts and flanks are grey and white in a vermiculated pattern. The upper wing has a black and white band beside bright green secondaries. The tail is black with a white patch on each side of the rump. The bill is black and the legs are grey. Females are mottled brown with a darker crown and back, and a dark brown eye stripe. Non-breeding males are similar to the female. This duck is about 14 inches (35 cm) long.
VOICE: https://www.xeno-canto.org/species/Anas-crecca
NAME: The English name ‘Teal’ is from Dutch and means a ‘teal’. This bird gave its name to the blue-green color ‘teal’. The Latin genus name ‘Anas’ means ‘duck’, and the Latin species name ‘crecca’ is from Swedish ‘Kricka’, which means ‘teal’.
HABITAT: Sheltered wetlands, including artificial river beds (see photos below).
DIET: Plant material such as seeds, also insects and invertebrates.
NESTING: The nest is a scrape on the ground near water. Around ten eggs are laid, incubated by the female. She cares for the ducklings.
DISTRIBUTION: The Eurasian teal breeding range covers eastern Europe and Asia. and is a year-round resident in the remainder of Europe (except Spain). It migrates in southern Europe, northern Africa, southeast Asia including Japan and South Korea.
CONSERVATION: Widespread and not considered at risk. However there are threats such as over-hunting, poisoning of its food sources, habitat loss due to degradation.
NOTES: This duck is highly gregarious outside the breeding season and will gather in large flocks.
SIMILAR SPECIES: Green-winged Teal – The green-winged teal is still sometimes described as a subspecies of the Eurasian Teal (compare photos of both below).
REFERENCES: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurasian_teal
http://www.oiseaux-birds.com/card-eurasian-teal.html
DESCRIPTION: The Eurasian or Common Teal is a small dabbling duck. The drake has a large ‘teal’ stripe on each side of the head which is reddish brown. The upper parts and flanks are grey and white in a vermiculated pattern. The upper wing has a black and white band beside bright green secondaries. The tail is black with a white patch on each side of the rump. The bill is black and the legs are grey. Females are mottled brown with a darker crown and back, and a dark brown eye stripe. Non-breeding males are similar to the female. This duck is about 14 inches (35 cm) long.
VOICE: https://www.xeno-canto.org/species/Anas-crecca
NAME: The English name ‘Teal’ is from Dutch and means a ‘teal’. This bird gave its name to the blue-green color ‘teal’. The Latin genus name ‘Anas’ means ‘duck’, and the Latin species name ‘crecca’ is from Swedish ‘Kricka’, which means ‘teal’.
HABITAT: Sheltered wetlands, including artificial river beds (see photos below).
DIET: Plant material such as seeds, also insects and invertebrates.
NESTING: The nest is a scrape on the ground near water. Around ten eggs are laid, incubated by the female. She cares for the ducklings.
DISTRIBUTION: The Eurasian teal breeding range covers eastern Europe and Asia. and is a year-round resident in the remainder of Europe (except Spain). It migrates in southern Europe, northern Africa, southeast Asia including Japan and South Korea.
CONSERVATION: Widespread and not considered at risk. However there are threats such as over-hunting, poisoning of its food sources, habitat loss due to degradation.
NOTES: This duck is highly gregarious outside the breeding season and will gather in large flocks.
SIMILAR SPECIES: Green-winged Teal – The green-winged teal is still sometimes described as a subspecies of the Eurasian Teal (compare photos of both below).
REFERENCES: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurasian_teal
http://www.oiseaux-birds.com/card-eurasian-teal.html
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| Eurasian tail pair foraging, Japan |
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| Eurasian teal pair, Onda River, Japan |
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| Eurasian teals foraging, Machida, Japan |
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| Eurasian teals resting and self-preening |