Andean Teal - BirdForum Opus

Photo by mikemik
Cotopaxi Park, Ecuador, November 2008

Anas andium

Includes Mérida Speckled Teal

Identification

35–45 cm
Generally a dark duck with no change between seasons. Breast has blackish spots on paler ground color. Bill is dark grey to blue-grey.

Distribution

Andes from Colombia and Venezuela south to Ecuador and the very northernmost Peru.

Taxonomy

Andean Teal. Photo by mikemik
Cotopaxi park, Ecuador, Nov 2008.
This bird likely belongs to subspecies andium.

Two subspecies are recognized¹:

• A. a. altipetens
• A. a. andium.

This species and Yellow-billed Teal were in the past considered one species, Speckled Teal². Restall³ went one step further and split Anas altipetens as Mérida Speckled Teal; this form occurs in northern Colombia and western Venezuela.

Habitat

Mainly freshwater, in much of the range at high elevation.

Behaviour

Similar to other small dabbling ducks.

References

1. Clements, James F. 2007. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to October 2007. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. ISBN 9780801445019
2. Proposal (#356) to South American Classification Committee
3. Restall et al. 2006. Birds of Northern South America. Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300124156
4. del Hoyo, J., N. Collar, and G. M. Kirwan (2020). Andean Teal (Anas andium), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D.A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.spetea3.01

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Andean Teal. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 9 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Andean_Teal

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