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2

Eurasian Teal (Anas crecca) Alternate name(s): "[Eurasian] Green-winged Teal", "Common Teal", "Teal" German name(s): "Krickente" Size: 34-38 cm; wing span 53-59 cm Weight: 340 g (male, average); 320 g (female, average)

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Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description Click here for a physical description Eurasian Teals are small dabbling ducks. Their plumage is dimorphic, i.e. males and females are different. Male Eurasian Teals have a brown neck and head with an iridescent dark-green area around and behind the eye which is lined by a lighter brown fringe. The top of the fringe extends on both sides to the lores. The chest is yellowish-grey, while the rest of the front is light-grey to creamy. The sides are finely vermiculated grey, while the upperwing coverts are long and grey with darker shafts. On the folded wing one can see a white stripe, while in flight the green speculum is conspicuous. Males have an all dark-grey bill. Females are similar to the females of several other duck species of the genus Anas. They are inconspicuously vermiculated dark-grey with brown edge lining, with a brown bill. The bill has an orange-yellow base which is most prominent on the lower mandible. They have small green speculi. The irises of both sexes are brown; the legs and feet are yellowish-grey. Juveniles resemble females with broader rufous edge lining.

Taxonomy, classification See Eurasian Teal at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat, finding this species Click here for information on habitat and range The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org . The global distribution of the Eurasian Teal is available HERE . Eurasian Teals are a mostly migratory species found in Eurasia and northern Africa. They are sedentary in much of western and central Europe and around the Black Sea. In summer they extend their range into northern and eastern Europe and all of subpolar Asia northward of about 45 geographic latitude, out to Hokkaido, Japan and the eastern Siberian coastline beyond Kamtschatka peninsula. With the exception of some wetlands in central and western Africa, their winter range extends from the northern and north-western coastal fringe of Africa and the river Nile catchment, Iberia, southern Italy, the Balkans and parts of Asia Minor eastwards, into the rest of Asia Minor, through the near-coastal fringe of the Middle East and along the Euphrates/Tigris River system along the Persian Gulf to the Indian subcontinent and into south-eastern Asia, to the southern tip of Thailand. They also populate the Chinese coastal fringe, South Korea and Japan, from Honshu southwards. During their migration they can also be found in areas in between breeding grounds and winter quarters. In Europe Eurasian Teals are partly sedentary, partly migratory. While they are winter visitors in Iberia, the Mediterranean islands, southern Italy and the Balkans, they are sedentary elsewhere around the Mediterranean and in western and central Europe, south-westward of a line roughly from the western border of Poland to the Danube delta. Apart from the coastal fringe of the Black Sea and the area between Black Sea and Caspian Sea, they are breeding migrants everywhere else. Some of the birds overwintering in western Europe breed in Iceland. Eurasian Teals preferentially nest in well-vegetated freshwater or brackish wetlands such as lakes, bogs, ponds. Outside the breeding season they can be found in almost any type of wetland, inland or coastal.

Sightings Click here for sighting information J. Pires reports spotting Eurasian Teals occasionally in the area of Montargil, Maranhao and Mora, Evora, Portugal, and also in Sesimbra, Setubal, Portugal, in February 2018. More Eurasian Teals were found in Soto de las Juntas, Madrid, Spain, in December 2019. They are usually, but not only, found in Iberia during the winter months. All sighting and photographic information presented on this page has been kindly contributed by J. Pires.

Photos

ADULT

MALE

BREEDING

Near-lateral view of a male Eurasian Teal in breeding plumage (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Lagoa de Albufeira, Sesimbra, Setubal, Portugal, January 2020]

Lateral view of a male Eurasian Teal in breeding plumage (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Lagoa de Albufeira, Sesimbra, Setubal, Portugal, January 2020]

Near-dorsal view of a male Eurasian Teal in breeding plumage; depending on the angle of the incoming sunlight, the iridescent feathers on the side of the head can look blue, rather than green (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Alverca waste water treatment plant, Vila Franca de Xira, Tejo estuary, Portugal, February 2021]

NON-BREEDING

Distant lateral view of a male Eurasian Teal in non-breeding plumage; note the cream-coloured patch under the tail
(photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Tejo estuary, Portugal, October 2019]

FEMALE

Lateral view of a female Eurasian Teal (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Lagoa de Albufeira, Sesimbra, Setubal, Portugal, January 2020]

Lateral view of a female Eurasian Teal; note the absence of a patch under the tail
(photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Tejo estuary, Portugal, October 2019]

PAIR

BREEDING

Lateral view of a pair of Eurasian Teals; male in breeding plumage at the back, female in front (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, March 2014]

Lateral view of a pair of Eurasian Teals; male in breeding plumage at the front (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Lagoa de Albufeira, Sesimbra, Setubal, Portugal, January 2020]

Lateral view of a resting pair of Eurasian Teals; male in breeding plumage at the back (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Alverca waste water treatment plant, Vila Franca de Xira, Tejo estuary, Portugal, February 2021]

Lateral view of three Eurasian Teals in flight; two males, lower left and upper right, and a female, centre right
(photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Maranhao, Avis, Evora, Portugal, February 2016]

NON-BREEDING

Lateral view of Eurasian Teals in flight; males mostly in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Tejo estuary, Portugal, January 2019]

Flock of Eurasian Teals in low flight (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Montargil, Avis, Evora, Portugal, December 2017]

Group of Eurasian Teals in flight; the fact that there appear to be no males in breeding plumage in this group may indicate that they are in eclipse and therefore indistinguishable from females at this distance (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, August 2013]

These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species please refer to a field guide.

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