Cinnamon Teal 6-Jan-10

Anas cyanoptera.  CITE.  With its red eye and dark chestnut color, the male Cinnamon Teal (in breeding plumage) is quite a dapper-looking duck.   The Cinnamon Teal is a longish, small duck, 16-17 in., with an oval-shaped head, a bluish patch on its forewing (lesser and middle coverts), and its bill is long and spatually flattened.   In eclipse (non-breeding) plumage, the male retains a warm cinnamon tinge and red eye.  Females and immatures are overall brown and mottled, and are very difficult to distinguish between Blue-winged Teal.

Cinnamon Teal breed in permanent and seasonal freshwater wetlands and alkaline water bodies, preferring wetlands with emergent vegetation.  Except in California, where it stays all year, the rest of the population leaves breeding grounds in winter and move southward to Mexico.  They forage in shallow, lushly vegetated water, submerging their heads and swimming, but also picking at the surface.

I took the picture above at the Radio Road ponds in Redwood Shores, Redwood City, California, on Christmas day, 2009.   This is a wonderful place to view and photograph ducks and shorebirds up-close.  The ponds are located across the street from Shore Dogs Park.  Follow the link for directions:  http://www.shoredogs.org/location/index.php.

For more information on Cinnamon Teal please visit 'All About Birds':  http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/cinnamon_teal/id