Common Teal Identification Guide

Key Field Marks

• Smallest of the Eurasian dabbling ducks, about 34–38 cm long, compact and fast-flying.
• Breeding male: chestnut-colored head with a broad, glossy green patch running from the eye to the nape, bordered by a thin cream-yellow line; body finely vermiculated grey with a black-bordered cream patch near the tail and a horizontal white stripe along the side of the body above the waterline.
• Female: mottled brown overall with a small dark bill and a plain head; best identified by size, shape, and the green speculum (wing patch) bordered with buff and white, visible in flight or when the wing is stretched.
• Flocks are notably fast and agile in flight, often twisting and turning together in tight formation.

Separating It From Similar Species

• Green-winged Teal (the American counterpart, sometimes treated as a separate species): breeding males show a vertical white stripe on the side of the breast instead of the horizontal white stripe along the body shown by Common Teal, and typically lack (or show a much reduced) cream border to the green eye patch; females of the two forms are very difficult to separate reliably in the field.
• Garganey: male Garganey has a bold white supercilium stripe sweeping back from the eye and a very different, browner head pattern; female Garganey shows a stronger face pattern including a pale spot at the base of the bill, distinguishing it from the plainer-faced female Common Teal.
• Other small dabbling ducks: Common Teal is notably smaller and more compact than Mallard, Wigeon, or Gadwall, with a proportionately smaller bill and quicker, more erratic flight.

Where and When to See One

• Breeds on marshes, bogs, and vegetated pools across northern and temperate Eurasia.
• Winters in large numbers on shallow wetlands, flooded fields, reservoirs, and coastal estuaries further south, often forming sizeable mixed flocks with other dabbling ducks.
• Widely seen across Europe, North Africa, and Asia during migration and winter, with breeding concentrated further north.

Voice

• Male gives a distinctive, ringing, bell-like "krik" or repeated "crik-crik," often heard from wintering flocks well before the birds are seen.
• Female gives a thin, high-pitched quack, weaker and higher than that of a Mallard.