Measurements
Both Sexes
- Length
- 14.2–16.9 in
36–43 cm - Weight
- 9.9–17.6 oz
280–500 g
Other Names
- Sarcelle cannelle (French)
- Cerceta castana, Pato colorado (Spanish)
Cool Facts
- The Cinnamon Teal is the only duck with separate breeding populations in North America and South America.
- Unlike most North American dabbling ducks, the Cinnamon Teal rarely breeds in the midcontinent prairie-parkland region.
- The female Cinnamon Teal often places her nest below matted, dead stems of vegetation so it is completely concealed on all sides and from above. She approaches the nest through tunnels in the vegetation.
Habitat
Lake/Pond
Uses freshwater (including highly alkaline) seasonal and semipermanent wetlands of various sizes, including large marshes, reservoirs, sluggish streams, ditches, and stock ponds.
Food
Seeds
Seeds and aquatic vegetation, aquatic and semi-terrestrial insects, snails, and zooplankton.
Nesting
Nesting Facts
- Clutch Size
- 4–16 eggs
- Egg Description
- Creamy white.
- Condition at Hatching
- Covered in yellow down with a gray-brown eyestripe. Able to leave nest soon after hatching.
Nest Description
A depression on the ground, near water. Lined with grasses and down.
Nest Placement
Ground
Behavior
Dabbler
Feeds mainly on surface. Dabbles with just bill in water or tips up with entire head underwater.
Conservation
Least Concern
No apparent trends in population size.
Credits
- Gammonley, J. H. 1996. Cinnamon Teal (Anas cyanoptera). In The Birds of North America, No. 209 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA, and The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C.