Blue-Winged Teal (Anas discors)

County List:

Rule:

Forested or Nonforested Landscapes

Nesting and Foraging/Brood Rearing Habitats are Adjacent during the early breeding season

Nesting Habitat:
      (Grass or Field/Pasture or Sedge Meadow)
   adjacent to:
      (Pond or Sewage Lagoons & Farm Ponds)

Foraging/Brood Rearing Habitat
      Pond
   adjacent to:
      Any Emergent Vegetation

Habitat List:

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Literature:

Habitat: Semi-permanent wetlands, stock ponds, and seasonal wetlands surrounded by grassland provide optimal breeding habitats. Although bluegrass is the preferred nest cover, hayfields and sedge meadows within 100m of the water's edge are also commonly used for nesting. Blue-winged Teal broods use semi-permanent wetlands with a 50% open water to vegetation ratio. A good supply of aquatic insects and other invertebrates must be present to meet the high protein requirements of the ducklings.

Habitat: Breeding: Fresh water coastal marshes, fresh water meadows, rivers, ponds and lakes. Prefers shorelines to open water and prefers calm water or sluggish currents to fast water. In New York, birds favor large freshwater marshes and ponds with emergent vegetation.

Habitat: Fresh ponds, marshes. In summer on shallow freshwater marshes and ponds in open country, also brackish marshes near coast. In migration and winter on any kind of shallow waters, inland or coastal.

Diet: Mainly seeds. Diet is mostly plant material, especially seeds of various grasses, sedges, pondweeds, smartweeds, and others. Snails, bivalves, insects, crustaceans, and other animal matter may be important in the diet at some seasons.

Nest: Site is on the ground in prairie, hayfield, coastal meadow, sometimes several hundred yards from nearest water. Nest is a shallow depression with some grass or weeds added, lined with down; usually well concealed by surrounding vegetation.