Green-wInged Teal
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Although the Green-winged Teal is both common and widespread across its range, it has been a rare spring visitor to Salter Grove. It was first reported in March of 2014 and then was not seen again until April of 2021. It is the smallest dabbling duck in North America and would be easy to miss as it forages in the shallower water along the vegetated shoreline of North Cove.
At first glance, a male Green-winged Teal might be mistaken for the American Wigeon which also has a brilliant green mask that arches from the eye back towards the neck. Both ducks also have a green speculum. However, the Green-winged Teal is much smaller than the Wigeon, has an all chestnut head, and a black rather than a pale blue bill. The Teal can be further distinguished by the vertical white stripe down the side of the body just behind the neck.
The Green-winged Teal breeds in wetland habitats in the northernmost regions of North America, especially favoring beaver ponds. It migrates far from its breeding grounds to winter in southern Alaska, southern Canada and as far as Central America. New pair-bonds are formed each winter and there is no shortage of potential mates as thousands of teals roost together. While in flight, these winter flocks twist and turn together so cohesively and quickly that they look more like shorebirds in migration.
It prefers to feed on the small seeds produced by marsh vegetation. as well as duckweed. Its bill has a comb-like margin that passes water but retains the small leaves of pondweed and small aquatic invertebrates that it consumes in shallow water or mud flats.
In contrast to many other wetland bird species, the Green-winged Teal has increased in numbers since the mid-twentieth century. Breeding in such remote areas may have protected them from habitat loss due to human activities. Although hunters were allowed to harvest over one million teals in 2020, population levels will be continuously monitored to determine future bag limits and prevent population decline.