- Anas cyanoptera
Identification
Photo taken at Upper Newport Bay (aka Back Bay), Newport Beach, Orange County, California, USA
The Cinnamon Teal, Anas cyanoptera, is a small dabbling duck.
The adult male has a cinnamon-red head and body with a brown back, a red eye and a dark bill. The adult female has a mottled brown body, a pale brown head, brown eyes and a grey bill and is very similar in appearance to a female Blue-winged Teal.
A male and female Cinnamon TealTheir breeding habitat is marshes and ponds in western North and South America. Cinnamon Teal generally select new mates each year. They are migratory and most winter in Central and South America, generally not migrating as far as the Blue-winged Teal. These birds feed by dabbling. They mainly eat plants; their diet may include molluscs and aquatic insects.
