Montana Field Guide

The Green-winged Teal is America's smallest dabbling duck. Bill is narrower and shorter than others. Sexually dimorphic. Male in alternate plumage: head cinnamon with an iridescent green crescent running through the eye to a small crest at the back. Breast pinkish with small black spots. North Am. Subspecies has a short, vertical, white stripe along the side of the body just below the front of the folded wing. Sides appear gray. Back grayish. A yellowish triangular patch along each side of black undertail-coverts. Speculum green toward inner wing, blackish toward outer wing; bordered by a tan stripe on leading edge and a white stripe on trailing edge. Male in eclipse plumage similar to female. Female mottled brown with a dark bill, dark forewing, and white chin and belly. (Johnson, Kevin. The Birds of North America, No. 193, 1995).

Bozeman area migration periods are from March 20 to May 15 and from September 20 to November 10, with peaks reached on April 20 and October 20.

Highest densities in wooded ponds of deciduous parklands, with additional breeding in boreal forests, arctic deltas, and mixed prairie regions. Often inhabits grasslands or sedge meadows with brush thickets or woodlands next to a marsh or pond. Often inhabits beaver ponds in wooded areas. (Johnson 1995).

Broad diet. Seeds of sedges, grasses, and aquatic vegetation; aquatic insects and larvae, molluscs, crustaceans (Johnson 1995).

At Freezeout Lake, the major cause of unsuccessful nests was skunk predation. Numbers have decreased dramatically in recent years in the Fortine area.

Ground nester. Nests typically in sedge meadows, grasslands, brush thickets, or woods near a pond. Eggs are elliptical to subelliptical. Creamy white to pale olive buff in color. (Johnson 1995). Nesting records are from May 7 to July 20. Freezeout Lake hatching dates are from June 1 to July 31. In the Fortine area, egg dates range from May 11 to June 23. The average brood size was 8.