From Opus

Alternative name: Green-winged Teal

A. c. crecca
Photo by ness123
Location: Cley, Norfolk

Anas crecca

[edit] Identification

334-43cm. Male - grey, chestnut head and neck, dark green patch before eye to hindneck, white striped flanks, buff, brown spotted breast, white belly, black vermiculations on body, black tail, dark grey bill, dark grey feet, brown iris. Female - yellow brown, dark grey brown head, neck and eyestripe, streaked head and neck, spotted body, brown upperwing coverts, white belly with dark streaks, pink based bill, grey towards tip, grey olive feet, brown iris.

[edit] Distribution

Eurasia.

A. c. carolinensis
Photo by Forcreeks
Location: Oaks Bottom, Portland, Oregon

[edit] Taxonomy

Anas crecca has three subspecies:¹

• A. c. crecca

• Palearctic; winters to Africa, India and South East Asia

• A. c. nimia (not always considered valid)

• Aleutian Islands

• A. c. carolinensis

• North America; winters to Mexico and West Indies
• Was recognised as a separate species, the Green-winged Teal¹; taxonomy still in much of debate as subspecies seem to be more closely related to the Speckled Teal than each other.

[edit] Habitat

Freshwater wetlands, reedbeds, small lakes and ponds.

[edit] Behaviour

The diet in the breeding season includes insects, larvae, worms, molluscs and crustaceans. In winter the diet includes sedges, grains, aquatic grasses and plants.

It is a ground nester, nesting in a hollow lined with leaves and down feathers, near water. 8-11 eggs are laid and incubated for 21-23 days. The young fledge25-30 days later.

[edit] Vocalisation

[edit] References

1. Clements, JF. 2007. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to October 2007. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019
2. Clements, JF. 2008. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2008. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist.

• List of references

Wikipedia

[edit] External Links