- Anas castanea
Identification
Male
- Dark brown upperparts and wings
- Dark green-purple wing panel edged white
- Brown underwing
- Chestnut neck, breast and flanks
- Green head
- Black undertail with white patch
- Dark red eye
- Bluish-grey bill
- Greenish-grey legs and feet
Female
- Dark brown and grey mottling
- Pale, brown streaked throat
- Dark eye stripe
Similar Species
The female is very similar to the Grey Teal.
Distribution
Swamps and marshes of south-western and south-eastern Australia (New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia) and Tasmania.
Taxonomy
Subspecies
Two subspecies are recognized[1].
- A. c. alexanderi
- Southwestern Australia
- A. c. castanea
Some authorities consider this species monotypic.
Habitat
Breeds in brackish or fresh swamps near coast, otherwise coastal estuaries, saltmarshes, lakes, urban wetlands, tidal mudflats, estuaries; inlets, islands, and montane lakes
Behaviour
Diet
The diet includes seeds, insects, vegetation, molluscs and crustaceans.
Breeding
Monogamous, they nest over water, in hollow tree stumps, lining the nest with down. Only the female incubates the eggs.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, S. M. Billerman, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2022. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2022. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Gill, F, D Donsker, and P Rasmussen (Eds). 2022. IOC World Bird List (v 12.2) DRAFT. Doi 10.14344/IOC.ML.12.2. http://www.worldbirdnames.org/
- Avibase
- Birds in Backyards
- BF Member observations
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Chestnut Teal. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 27 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Chestnut_Teal
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1
