Eurasian Teal

The Eurasian teal is a common, widespread duck and one of the smallest dabbling ducks, 34–43 cm long with a wingspan of 53–59 cm and a weight of about 340–360 g. From a distance the breeding drake looks grey with a dark head, a yellowish rear and a white stripe along the flanks, and the breast is buff with small round brown spots. The bird gives its name to the blue-green colour teal. Downy young are brown above and yellow below, with a yellow eyebrow (Wikipedia, general species account).

It breeds in temperate Eurosiberia and migrates south in winter. A census in 1990 and 1991 found some 37,000 wintering in India, compared with over 287,000 in Iran and 109,000 in Pakistan. It is highly gregarious outside the breeding season, forming large flocks, and is found in sheltered wetlands, feeding on seeds and aquatic invertebrates. SoIB 2023 rates it a High conservation priority: a winter migrant of wetlands with a rapid long-term decline of about 69% and a rapid current decline of nearly 6% a year (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).