- Anas cyanoptera
Identification
Small dabbling duck
Adult Male
- Cinnamon-red head and body
- Brown back
- Red eye
- Dark bill
Adult Female
- Mottled brown body
- Pale brown head
- Brown eyes
- Grey bill
Similar Species
Female very similar to female Blue-winged Teal
Distribution
Western North and South America. They are migratory and most winter in Central and South America, generally not migrating as far as the Blue-winged Teal.
Occurs as vagrants in the Caribbean.
Taxonomy
It is usually placed in genus Anas, most closely allied to the shovelers and Blue-winged Teal. These species are sometimes separated into a distinct genus Spatula.
Subspecies
There are 5 subspecies1:
- A. c. septentrionalium: (Northern Cinnamon Teal)
- British Columbia to north-western Mexico; winters to north-western South America
- A. c. tropica: (Tropical Cinnamon Teal)
- Cauca and Magdalena valleys of Colombia
- A. c. borreroi: (Borrero's Cinnamon Teal); possibly extinct
- Eastern Andes of Colombia
- A. c. orinomus: Andean Cinnamon Teal
- A. c. cyanoptera: Argentine Cinnamon Teal
- Southern Peru and southern Brazil to Tierra del Fuego and Falkland Islands
Habitat
Marshes and ponds
Behavior
Breeding
Generally select new mates each year.
Diet
Dabbling ducks, the most important part of their diet is plants, but they make also eat molluscs and aquatic insects.
References
- Clements, JF. 2010. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2010. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/Clements%206.5.xls/view
- Wikipedia
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Cinnamon Teal. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 7 May 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Cinnamon_Teal