Teal are small, pretty dabbling ducks. Males in breeding plumage have a distinctive chestnut-coloured head with a broad green band around the eye, bordered by a narrow cream coloured line. They have a spotted chest, grey-white upper parts and flanks and a black-edged lemon-coloured tail. Females are mainly mottled brown, but the main feature found on both sexes, is a bright green wing patch (known as a speculum), best seen in flight. Females look much like a small mallard.

Behaviour

A highly gregarious duck outside of the breeding season and can form large flocks. They inhabit ponds, marshes, estuaries and sheltered coastal environments and are relatively noisy; the males’ ‘cryc’ or ‘creelycc’ whistles are very clear and far-carrying. The female has a feebler ‘keh’ or ‘neeh’ quack. 

Teal usually feed by dabbling, upending, grazing or even diving to reach food. In the breeding season, they eats mainly aquatic invertebrates, such as crustaceans, insects, molluscs and worms. In winter, they shift to a largely granivorous diet, feeding on seeds of aquatic plants and grasses, including sedges and grains.   

They nest on the ground, near water and under cover. Pairs form in the winter and arrive on the breeding grounds together around March. Breeding usually starts later, as late as May in more northerly locations. After the females have started laying, the males leave them and move away, often assembling in flocks where they moult into eclipse plumage, looking more like the hen with a dark head and vestigial facial markings.

They normally live around 3-5 years. 

Size

• Length: 34-38cm
• Wingspan: 55-64cm
• Average weight: 320g (female), 340g (male)

Status

Classified in the UK as Amber under the Birds of Conservation Concern 4: the Red List for Birds (2015); Protected by The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.  

Distribution

Teal are a widespread but localised breeding species in Scotland. Numbers fell in the early 1970s, particularly in the south and east of England, and Scotland now holds important breeding populations in upland moorland and blanket bog free from disturbance, such as in the Flow Country, Orkney and Uist. 

When to see

All year round. Most numerous in winter as a visitor and passage migrant from northern Europe and north-west Siberia. 

Facts

• The collective noun is a ‘spring’ of teal. It refers to the way they take to the air when startled, in an almost vertical fashion, swerving and cork-screwing in flight.  

• Teal, like all ducks have webbed feet, but no nerves or blood vessels meaning that their feet do not feel the cold! This enables ducks to swim in icy water, and walk on ice and in snow.