Species

Green-winged teal

Anas crecca

North America's smallest dabbling duck, which gathers in tight, fast-flying flocks on winter mudflats and marshes.

Photo Unknown photographer (opens in a new tab) / iNaturalist, CC0 1.0 (opens in a new tab)

At a glance

Size: About 31 to 39 cm long
Weight: About 180 to 450 g
Habitat: Shallow marshes, mudflats, flooded fields and pond edges
Diet: Seeds, small snails, insects and aquatic plants
In Georgia: A common winter visitor, October to April
Voice: Males give a clear, high "preep"
Rabies vector: No

Identification

Male: Chestnut head with a green band behind the eye; grey body; a vertical white bar on the side of the breast
Female: Small, mottled brown, with a green wing patch
Told apart from: Blue-winged teal, which has a blue forewing patch and, in males, a white crescent on the face
Where to look: Mudflats and shallow edges of marshes and ponds

Behaviour

Green-winged teal feed in very shallow water and on bare mud, where they sift for seeds and small animals. Flocks fly fast and low, twisting together like shorebirds.

Why they matter

These small ducks use shallow, muddy places that larger ducks cannot, which is why draining or deepening wetlands affects them so much. They are among the most numerous wintering ducks in the Southeast and feed many predators, from peregrine falcons to foxes.

Reproduction and lifecycle

Nest — A down-lined bowl hidden in grass or brush near water
Eggs — Usually 6 to 9
Incubation — About 21 to 23 days
Ducklings — Leave the nest within a day
Flight — At about five weeks
Lifespan — Usually a few years

Living around people

Muddy edges of ponds and drawn-down impoundments are where these birds feed; they need no tidying.
Lead shot and fishing weights on the bottom of shallow water poison ducks that sift the mud.

Misconceptions

Such a small duck must be a duckling. Green-winged teal are adults the size of a large pigeon.

Related species

Seasonal activity

When this species is breeding, and when there are nests on the ground. Mowing during the shaded months is how most nests are found.

Breeding and active nests by month for this species
	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Breeding	Jan: no	Feb: no	Mar: no	Apr: no	May: no	Jun: no	Jul: no	Aug: no	Sep: no	Oct: no	Nov: no	Dec: no
Active nests	Jan: no	Feb: no	Mar: no	Apr: no	May: no	Jun: no	Jul: no	Aug: no	Sep: no	Oct: no	Nov: no	Dec: no
Notes	Wintering	Pairs forming	Migrating north	Last birds leaving	Nesting in the north	Ducklings hatching	Adults moulting	Young flying	Migration begins	Arriving in Georgia	Wintering flocks	Wintering

Where it lives

Recorded in 89 states and provinces. Each one links to the other animals there, and to the rehabilitators licensed for them.

United States

Canada

If you found one

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