Cinnamon teal

The cinnamon teal (Spatula cyanoptera) is a species of duck found in western North and South America. It is a small dabbling duck, with bright reddish plumage on the male and duller brown plumage on the female. It lives in marshes and ponds, and feeds mostly on plants.

Cinnamon teal
Spatula cyanoptera septentrionalium drake (male)

Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Anseriformes
Family: Anatidae
Genus: Spatula
Species:
S. cyanoptera
Binomial name
Spatula cyanoptera
(Vieillot, 1816)
Subspecies

4 living, 1 possibly extinct; see text

Synonyms

Anas cyanoptera Vieillot, 1816

Description
Female Spatula cyanoptera septentrionalium
Male (left) and female

The adult male has a cinnamon-red head and body with a brown back, a red eye and a dark bill. The adult female has a mottled brown body, a pale brown head, brown eyes and a grey bill and is very similar in appearance to a female blue-winged teal; however its overall color is richer, the lores, eye line, and eye ring are less distinct. Its bill is longer and more spatulate. Male juvenile resembles a female cinnamon or blue-winged teal but their eyes are red.[2][3] They are 16 in (41 cm) long, have a 22-inch (560 mm) wingspan, and weigh 14 oz (400 g).[3] They have 2 adult molts per year and a third molt in their first year.[3]

Distribution

Their breeding habitat is marshes and ponds in western United States and extreme southwestern Canada, and are rare visitors to the east coast of the United States.[3] Cinnamon teal generally select new mates each year. They are migratory and most winter in northern South America and the Caribbean,[4] generally not migrating as far as the blue-winged teal. Some winter in California and southwestern Arizona.[2] Two subspecies of cinnamon teal reside within the Andes of South America. The smaller sized S. c. cyanoptera is widespread within low elevations (<1000m) such as the coast of Peru and southern Argentina, whereas the larger size subspecies S. c. orinomus occupies elevations of 3500-4600 meters in the central Andes. [5]

Behavior
Male

These birds feed by dabbling. They mainly eat plants; their diet may include molluscs and aquatic insects.

Taxonomy

They are known to interbreed with blue-winged teals,[2] which are very close relatives.

Subspecies are:

gollark: Nobody will be able to bruteforce the 26 permutations.
gollark: That's the best way to secure anything.
gollark: Yes, Terrariola.
gollark: PotatOS is not in fact banned. The rules haven't reached quite that level of ad-hoc stupidity.
gollark: Yes, you are now doublebanned.

References
  1. BirdLife International (2012). "Spatula cyanoptera". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2013.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  2. Dunn, J (2006)
  3. Floyd T (2008)
  4. Herrera et al. (2006)
  5. Wilson, Robert E.; Peters, Jeffrey L.; McCracken, Kevin G. (2012-08-10). "GENETIC AND PHENOTYPIC DIVERGENCE BETWEEN LOW- AND HIGH-ALTITUDE POPULATIONS OF TWO RECENTLY DIVERGED CINNAMON TEAL SUBSPECIES". Evolution. 67 (1): 170–184. doi:10.1111/j.1558-5646.2012.01740.x. ISSN 0014-3820. PMID 23289570.
  6. Clements, J (2007)

Works cited
  • Clements, James, (2007) The Clements Checklist of the Birds of the World, Cornell University Press, Ithaca
  • Dunn, J. & Alderfer, J. (2006) National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America 5th Ed.
  • Floyd, T (2008) Smithsonian Field Guide to the Birds of North America Harper Collins, NY
  • Herrera, Néstor; Rivera, Roberto; Ibarra Portillo, Ricardo & Rodríguez, Wilfredo (2006): Nuevos registros para la avifauna de El Salvador. ["New records for the avifauna of El Salvador"]. Boletín de la Sociedad Antioqueña de Ornitología 16(2): 1-19. [Spanish with English abstract]PDF fulltext
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.