Cinnamon Teal


	Cinnamon Teal
	Anas cyanoptera

A small brightly colored duck, the Cinnamon Teal is found in ponds throughout the American West.

Interesting Information

The Cinnamon Teal is the only duck with separate breeding populations in North America and South America.
Unlike most North American dabbling ducks, the Cinnamon Teal rarely breeds in the midcontinent prairie-parkland region.
The female Cinnamon Teal often places her nest below matted, dead stems of vegetation so it is completely concealed on all sides and from above. She approaches the nest through tunnels in the vegetation.

Description

Adult Description

Size: 36-43 cm (14-17 in)
Weight: 280-500 g (9.88-17.65 ounces)
Small duck.
Large light blue patches on front of wing, visible in flight.
Male has bright cinnamon red head and body.
Top of wing with a large light blue patch near the front and a line of green feathers along the rear.
White under the wings.
Bill black and rather large.

Sex Differences

Male

Breeding (Alternate) Plumage

Bright cinnamon head and body plumage. Dark rump, tail, and undertail. Upper wing with light-blue patch with white rear border. Back of wing iridescent green. Eyes red.

Eclipse (Basic) Plumage

Gray-brown overall, with rusty wash. Small white area at base of bill. Eyes red.

Female

Gray-brown overall, with small white area at base of bill. Bill dark. Light-blue upper wing patch with narrow white border. Back of wing mostly brown, with little green.

Immature

Similar to adult female.

Photo taken from: The Sibley Field Guide by David Allen Sibley

Habitat

Uses freshwater (including highly alkaline) seasonal and semipermanent wetlands of various sizes, including large marshes, reservoirs, sluggish streams, ditches, and stock ponds.

Behavior

Feeds mainly on surface. Dabbles with just bill in water or tips up with entire head underwater.

Food

Seeds and aquatic vegetation, aquatic and semi-terrestrial insects, snails, and zooplankton.

Taxonomy

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Subphylum:	Vertebrata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Anseriformes
Family:	Anatidae
Subfamily:	Anserinae
Genus:	Anas
Species:	Anas cyanoptera
Subspecies:	Anas cyanoptera borreroi
	Anas cyanoptera cyanoptera
	Anas cyanoptera orinoma
	Anas cyanoptera septentrionalium
	Anas cyanoptera tropica

Similar Species

Ruddy Duck, the only other small reddish duck, has large white cheek patch.
Female Blue-winged Teal very similar in appearance, but is more grayish brown, and has more patterned body feathers, a more patterned face, and a shorter bill.
Female Green-winged Teal is darker brown, lacks white near the base of the bill, has a smaller bill, and lacks the blue wing patch.

Bird Sound

Female gives loud, evenly spaced quacks. Male makes series of "chuk" notes.

Eggs look like this

Photo taken from: ARCTOS Collaborative Collection Management Solution

	Sources Used To Construct This Page
	Gammonley, J. H. 1996. Cinnamon Teal (Anas cyanoptera). In The Birds of North America, No. 209 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA, and The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C.

	All photos and videos © Rick Swartzentrover - Free for non-profit use.