Blue Winged Beauties

by Dawn Currie

Title

Blue Winged Beauties

Artist

Dawn Currie

Medium

Photograph - Digital

Description

Photographic artwork by Dawn Currie. Four Blue Winged Teal in flight over the Dan Click Ponds in Viera, Florida.

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Blue Winged Teal (Anas discors): Pairs and small groups of this tiny dabbling duck inhabit shallow ponds and wetlands across much of North America. Blue-winged Teal are long distance migrants, with some birds heading all the way to South America for the winter (One individual banded in Alberta was shot in Venezuela a month later). Therefore, they take off early on spring and fall migration, leaving their breeding grounds in the United States and Canada well before other species in the fall. Blue-winged Teals have the highest annual mortality rate (reaching 65%) of all the dabbling ducks, possibly as a result of hunting and long over-ocean migration.

Pairs and small groups dabble and up-end to reach submerged vegetation. You'll often find Blue-winged Teal with other species of dabbling ducks. They are often around the edges of ponds under vegetation, choosing a concealed spot to forage or rest.

Blue-winged Teal are the second most abundant duck in North America, behind the Mallard. Their numbers fluctuate between about 2.8 million and 7.4 million birds, mainly as a response to water conditions, with drought causing populations to fall.

Since Blue-winged teal are so abundant, I have encountered them regularly throughout central and southern Florida in shallow ponds, lakes, and wetlands. I have frequently photographed them in the Ritch Grissom Memorial Wetlands in Viera Florida, Green Cay Nature Center and Wetlands in Boynton Beach Florida, and Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge (MINWR) near Titusville Florida.

Uploaded

January 21st, 2014

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