The Baikal teal, also called the bimaculate duck or squawk duck, is a dabbling duck that breeds in eastern Russia and winters in East Asia.
Region
Northeast Asia
Typical Environment
Breeds in eastern Siberia across taiga wetlands, forested floodplains, and tundra-edge marshes. Winters mainly in East Asia, especially the Korean Peninsula, eastern China, and Japan, using large shallow lakes, estuaries, and rice paddies. During migration it gathers at staging wetlands with abundant shallow water and emergent vegetation. It favors areas with extensive mudflats and vegetation for cover and foraging.
Altitude Range
Sea level to 1200 m
Climate Zone
Continental
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 2/5
Formerly considered Vulnerable due to hunting and habitat loss, the Baikal teal has rebounded and is now listed as Least Concern, with very large wintering flocks. Males have one of the most striking facial patterns among dabbling ducks. It was previously placed in the genus Anas but is now in the monotypic genus Sibirionetta.
Baikal teal
Temperament
social and wary
Flight Pattern
fast with rapid wingbeats
Social Behavior
Highly gregarious outside the breeding season, forming dense flocks that can number in the tens of thousands on wintering grounds. Generally monogamous within a season; pairs form on wintering or staging areas. Nests are on the ground in dense cover near shallow water, with the female incubating and tending the brood.
Migratory Pattern
Seasonal migrant
Song Description
Males give clear, whistling peeps and trills, especially during display, while females utter softer quacks and grunts. Vocalizations are most frequent in courtship flocks and when birds are unsettled at roosts.
Plumage
Male with boldly patterned face, creamy-buff with dark green and black stripes, finely vermiculated body, and two dark spots on the rear flanks; female mottled brown with a pale face and dark eye-line. Both sexes show a green speculum bordered by white. Feathers are tight and smooth, typical of dabbling ducks.
Diet
Feeds by dabbling and upending, taking seeds of aquatic plants, sedges, and grasses, as well as rice grains on farmlands. Also consumes aquatic invertebrates such as insects, small crustaceans, and mollusks, especially in the breeding season. Diet composition shifts seasonally toward more animal matter in spring and more plant material in winter.
Preferred Environment
Shallow lakes, flooded marshes, and slow-moving river margins with emergent vegetation. In winter it frequently uses rice paddies, estuarine shallows, and mudflats where dense flocks can forage safely.
