Green-winged Teal

Mystery Bird: Green-winged Teal, Anas crecca

grrlscientist — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 08:59:30 +0000

Mystery Bird: Green-winged Teal, Anas crecca

tags: Green-winged Teal, Anas crecca, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz

~~[Mystery bird]~~ Female Green-winged Teal, Anas crecca, photographed at Arthur Storey Park, Houston, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]

Image: Joseph Kennedy, 5 December 2009 [larger view].

Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/640s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.

Can you tell me the sex as well as the species for this individual?

Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.

Review all mystery birds to date.

grrlscientist Thu, 12/10/2009 - 03:59

Green-winged. Teal (female) - bill shape seem right for the species. I would expect a female Blue-winged Teal to have a larger bill and a pale patch at the base of the bill.

I think you are correct Michael, a female Green-winged Teal, Anas carolinensis: dark grey bill; pale brown head and neck; dark brown cap and eye line; dark brown back and upperwing coverts scalloped with buff- the smaller bill and lack of white at the base of the bill eliminate both the Blue-winged and Cinnamon Teals.

Taxonomically many sources still list the Green-winged Teal as a subspecies of the Common Teal- Anas crecca carolinensis, and the AOU is currently reviewing it's own classification with research showing that A. carolinensis was more closely related to A. flavirostris (Speckled Teal) than either was to Old World A. crecca, but both the IUCN and Birdlife International agree with it's designation as a separate species as noted above (and even the Blue-winged Teal is now no longer considered really a teal but a shoveler that should be moved to the genus Spatula).

Again, an additional field mark to note -- the upper part of the undertail coverts is unmarked buff -- in males this would be outlined in black. Other small ducks don't show this mark.

Mystery Bird: Green-winged Teal, Anas carolinensis

grrlscientist — Tue, 19 May 2009 07:59:56 +0000

Mystery Bird: Green-winged Teal, Anas carolinensis

tags: mystery bird, identify this bird, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz

~~[Mystery birds]~~ Green-winged Teal, Anas carolinensis, photographed at the San Bernard Refuge, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]

Image: Joseph Kennedy, 1 March 2009 [larger view].

Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with tsn-pz camera eyepiece 1/500s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.

Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.

Review all mystery birds to date.

grrlscientist Tue, 05/19/2009 - 03:59

I'm going to guess that that's a female green-winged teal, based on the green speculum and the "buffy streak" (Sibley) near the tail.

Whatever it is, there's been a hideous transporter accident!

Mystery Bird: Green-winged Teal, Anas carolinensis

grrlscientist — Mon, 11 May 2009 07:59:57 +0000

Mystery Bird: Green-winged Teal, Anas carolinensis

tags: Green-winged Teal, Anas carolinensis, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz

~~[Mystery birds]~~ Green-winged Teal, Anas carolinensis, photographed at San Bernard Refuge, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]

Image: Joseph Kennedy, 8 April 2009 [larger view].

Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with tsn-pz camera eyepiece 1/350s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.

Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.

Rick Wright, author of Aimophila Adventures and Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:

I can't see the toes to know whether they're webbed or not, but everything about this bird -- its horizontal posture, its complexly marked body plumage, its large head, and the contrasting colorful panel on the secondaries -- says "puddle duck." It's also obviously a small, even a tiny, puddle duck, if the cattail leaves are anything to go by.

Starting at the rear, we find a tail that is neither especially long nor especially pointed; that lets us rule out wigeon, for example. The lateral undertail coverts are plain white, forming a contrasting patch just below the outer tail feathers; this is the "shadow" of a male Green-winged Teal's creamy fender, and is enough to put us on the right track.

The belly is relatively unmarked and contrasts strongly with the heavily marked breast; none of the "blue-winged" ducks shows that white oval from beneath. Cinnamon and Blue-winged Teal also have brighter feet than this, with a noticeable orange tinge lacking on the gray tarsus of our quiz bird.

The speculum -- that colorful patch on the secondaries -- just peeks out from beneath the tertials and the greater coverts. It appears to be dark blue, but it's worth remembering that iridescent colors vary depending on angle and lighting, and that like a hummingbird's gorget, a single duck's speculum can seem to range from black to purple to blue to green in the space of just a few moments.

Finally, let's look at this bird's head. Bill shape and length aren't going to be very helpful, but the steep, full nape and flat crown give our mystery duck an impressively large and square head, typical of Green-winged Teal and quite unlike the long, rounded contours of a Blue-winged or Cinnamon Teal. The strong black lines crossing the face are also characteristic of Green-winged Teal.

We can assume that a Green-winged Teal photographed in Texas is, in fact, a Green-winged Teal carolinensis and not a Common Teal crecca or nimia, Old World birds that occur regularly (and probably more frequently than they are detected) on both coasts and in the inland west. Female-plumaged birds show small but critical differences in the wing pattern. Unfortunately, unless this photo spreads its wings, we'll never now.

Review all mystery birds to date.

grrlscientist Mon, 05/11/2009 - 03:59

Female Blue-Winged Teal (Anas discors)

Blue-winged Teal because of the flash of blue on the wing, and the general speckled featehr pattern and female becuase it lacks the distinctie strip on the head that the male has.

I'll go with female Green-winged Teal - I'm not seeing the blue on the fore-wing I would expect in the other two teals.

The pale breast and the lack of a pale patch at the base of the bill also fits Green-winged Teal.

Another vote for green-wing teal. And I'll point out the grayish leg color.