The Eurasian teal, common teal, or Eurasian green-winged teal is a common and widespread duck that breeds in temperate Eurosiberia and migrates south in winter. The Eurasian teal is often called simply the teal due to being the only one of these small dabbling ducks in much of its range. The bird gives its name to the blue-green colour teal.
Region
Palearctic
Typical Environment
Breeds across temperate Eurosiberia, from western Europe through Scandinavia and Russia to eastern Asia. In winter it migrates south to the Mediterranean, sub-Saharan Africa’s Sahel belt, the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent, and parts of East and Southeast Asia. It favors shallow freshwater wetlands, marshes, floodplains, and lake margins, and in winter also uses estuaries, lagoons, and rice fields. During migration it stops over on a wide range of small wetlands and sheltered coastal sites.
Altitude Range
Sea level to 2000 m
Climate Zone
Temperate
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 2/5
This is one of the smallest dabbling ducks, forming tight, fast-flying flocks in winter. The drake’s striking green eye patch gives rise to the colour name “teal.” It is a popular game species in many countries and can be confused with the American green-winged teal, which some authorities treat as a separate species.
Male (top) in nuptial plumage and female. Male has the wide white wing stripe and conspicuous face markings, which gave the colour teal its name.
Wintering birds at Purbasthali, Burdwan District of West Bengal (India)
Eggs
Temperament
wary but gregarious
Flight Pattern
fast, agile flight with rapid wingbeats
Social Behavior
Outside the breeding season it gathers in large, tight flocks on open water and roosts communally on shores or islets. Pairs form in late winter, and nesting occurs on the ground in dense vegetation near water. The female incubates and tends the brood while the male often departs shortly after incubation begins.
Migratory Pattern
Seasonal migrant
Song Description
The male gives a clear, ringing whistled ‘creek’ or ‘preep’ that carries over the water. Females produce a softer, coarse quack and various chatter calls when alarmed or keeping contact with the brood.
Plumage
Male in breeding plumage shows a finely vermiculated grey body with a bold vertical white bar on the side of the breast; female is mottled brown with subtle patterning. Both sexes have a glossy green speculum bordered by white and black. Nonbreeding males resemble females but retain the green speculum.
Diet
Feeds by dabbling and upending, taking seeds of aquatic plants, sedges, and grasses, as well as small aquatic invertebrates such as crustaceans, insect larvae, and mollusks. Plant material dominates in winter, while animal prey increases during the breeding season. It will also glean spilled grain in flooded fields and along shorelines.
Preferred Environment
Shallow margins of lakes, ponds, marshes, and slow rivers with abundant emergent vegetation. In winter it frequently uses estuarine mudflats, coastal lagoons, and flooded agricultural land such as rice paddies.
