How to Identify aGreen-winged Teal
Anas carolinensis · 12.2–15.3 in (31–39 cm)
Male vs. female
Male
Chestnut head with an iridescent green swipe from the eye, gray body and a creamy patch under the tail.
Female
Small, finely mottled brown with a dark eye-line and a green wing patch.
Male photo: Alan D. Wilson / Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 2.5 · Second photo: Rhododendrites / Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
Field marks
- Very small and compact
- Green speculum flashing on takeoff
- Vertical white bar on the side of the male
- Creamy yellow patch beneath the tail
Similar species
What it sounds like
A clear, high, whistled "preep" from the male, carrying well across a marsh.
Behaviour that gives it away
Springs almost vertically off the water when flushed, twisting away in tight fast flocks.
Habitat & range
Shallow marshes, mudflats, flooded fields and pond edges, mostly in winter.
When you'll see it
Depending on where in North America you are, it is a winter visitor and a passage migrant, seen mainly in spring and autumn.
What it eats
Seeds, aquatic plants and small invertebrates taken in very shallow water.
Did you know?
It is small enough to feed on mudflats too shallow for other ducks, walking as much as swimming.
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