Blue-winged Teal (Anas discors) female by iaacf
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Description
Thank you for your comments on my red wood posting. Today I will go back to the Zoo, the Burgers Zoo to be more specific and I will post a duck I saw in the Burgers Desert. It appeared to be the blue-winged-teal. At first glance this little duck looks like a female mallard but it is smaller and more elegant. The Blue-winged Teal (Anas discors) is a small dabbling duck.
The adult male has a greyish blue head with a white facial crescent, a light brown body with a white patch near the rear and a black tail. The adult female is mottled brown. Both sexes have a blue wing patch. In flight, they flap their wings especially rapidly.
Their breeding habitat is marshes and ponds throughout north and central North America. The nest is a shallow depression on the ground lined with grass and down, usually surrounded by vegetation.
They migrate in flocks to Central and South America. During migration, some birds may fly long distances over open ocean. They are occasional vagrants to Europe, where their yellow legs are a distinction from other small ducks like Common Teal and Garganey. DNA analysis of this species has revealed it's genetic make up to be almost identical to that of the Cinnamon teal.
These birds feed by dabbling in shallow water. They mainly eat plants; their diet may include molluscs and aquatic insects.
The call of the male is a short whistle; the female's call is a soft quack
Red wood,chapter2
With a little help of the zoo I have found the name of the bird I posted a picture of the day before yesterday. It appeared to be a robin-chat which is native in Africa.
Robin-chat
Comments (24)
Superb Shot , Perfect ! Ana
He is wonderful... fantastic capture...
What a beautiful shot. He looks all bundled up for the winter. :)
Donald LOL, i thought it might be a Mallard. Great capture.
Perfect shot!!
yes it is a Mallard so far I can see, wonderful details
Amazing shot! He looks so content, beautiful duck.. I fav this right away.
Ohhh she is just beautiful and she has such a lovely face. Yes I guess it is a she. :)
Hello Oskar a lovely image and great clarity .. I think this is one of the little dabbling type ducks though no longer classified as such, I think it is the Marbled Teal
I think Danny is probably right, I see some teal feathers hiding there!!! Excellent shot!!!!!
Great capture!
Wonderful macro ! Have a great day Virginie
Unknown to us but I bet he knows exactly who he is. :-) A really good close up portrait with great details in the feathers.
Your details and colours is impressive. Congratulations
This duck looks great and the shiny water adds nicely to the composition. Great capture!
Top quality detailed photography and inspirational - Excellent and Bravo!!
Great detail! I think she's mainly mallard, they are notoriously good at interbreeding.
Very beautiful picture!!!
Nicely captured.
Perfect:):):):)
Ohyes, so beautiful and adorable pose of this duck ! Good day :)
Very nicely captured!
Perfect shot!! :O) ROBY :o)
Beautiful!