European Birds

Anatidae : Swans, Geese & Ducks

Green-winged Teal

Anas crecca carolinensis

Male - Virginia, USA - March 2000

Green-winged Teal is a rare, but regular, visitor to Europe where it is no doubt under-reported due to the females being indistinguishable from the nominate race, Common Teal (A. c. crecca).  Males are easily separated by the presence of a vertical white band between the breast and flank instead of a horizontal white line along the body.  The gold markings on the head of male Green-winged Teals are also fainter than those of Common Teal.

Male - Lancashire, England - March 2007

Green-winged Teal and Common Teal are sometimes considered to be separate species but are currently treated as subspecies in the HBW checklist (del Hoya & Collar, 2014).

Female - Virginia, USA - March 2000

With a population of over 7 million individuals, Green-winged Teal is one of the commonest ducks in North America.