Specie's Page                                               Water Fowl - Eurasian Teal ~(Green-winged)

Eurasian Teal (Green-winged):

UK Status: Resident, numbers being increased by winter visitors coming in from a lot further north of the British Isles. These birds are very gregarious, and out of the breeding season can sometimes form very large flocks.

Habitat: This bird when breeding is more of a loner, individual pairs splitting off from the large flocks. They feed on seeds and invertibrates including small fish. During the breeding season they choose to inhabit mainly sheltered inland lakes and pools in central Scotland.

Breeding: These ducks use a natural hollow in the ground to nest in. Nests are made of nearby vegetation, woven into a cup shape, this is then lined with downy feather of the birds breast. They lay a single clutch of eight to eleven creamy white, or pale olive buff and slightly glossy eggs. The eggs are also covered in duck down, thereby assisting their short twenty, to twenty three day incubation time.

Comment: This bird has become scarcer in recent years, and although relatively common, is of great concern, hence it's amber status.

BE AWARE PLEASE:  Ground nesting birds are very vulnerable to having their eggs and chicks smashed or crushed. This can happen when people are unaware of their presence, or when dogs are allowed to run loose during the breeding season. Nests are very well hidden, and are not usually spotted until it's to late. Dogs often have no concern for ground nesting birds, please keep them on their leads from April through to the end of September.