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 | |
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| Spatula cyanoptera (male) | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Anseriformes |
| Family: | Anatidae |
| Genus: | Spatula |
| Species: | S. cyanoptera
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| Binomial name | |
| Spatula cyanoptera (Vieillot, 1816)
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| Subspecies | |
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4 living, 1 possibly extinct; see text | |
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Breeding Migration Year-round Nonbreeding
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| Synonyms | |
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Anas cyanoptera Vieillot, 1816 | |
Description
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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
editTheir 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] One young male duck was spotted in Grimsby, Ontario, and became a tourist attraction due to its rarity outside of western Canada.[4] Cinnamon teal generally select new mates each year. They are migratory and most winter in northern South America and the Caribbean,[5] 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.[6]
Behavior
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These birds feed by dabbling. They mainly eat plants; their diet may include molluscs and aquatic insects.
Taxonomy
editThey are known to interbreed with blue-winged teals,[2] which are very close relatives.
Subspecies are:
- Spatula cyanoptera septentrionalium (Oberholser, 1906) northern cinnamon teal breeds from British Columbia to northwestern New Mexico, and they winter in northwestern South America.[7]
- Spatula cyanoptera tropica (Snyder & Lumsden, 1951) tropical cinnamon teal occurs in the Cauca Valley and Magdalena Valley in Colombia.[7]
- Spatula cyanoptera borreroi (Snyder & Lumsden, 1951) Borrero's cinnamon teal (possibly extinct) occurs in the eastern Andes of Colombia with records of apparently resident birds from northern Ecuador.[7] It is named for Colombian ornithologist José Ignacio Borrero.
- Spatula cyanoptera orinoma (Snyder & Lumsden, 1951) Andean cinnamon teal occurs in the Altiplano of Peru, northern Chile and Bolivia.[7]
- Spatula cyanoptera cyanoptera (Vieillot, 1816) Argentine cinnamon teal occurs in southern Peru, southern Brazil, Argentina, Chile, and the Falkland Islands.[7]
References
edit- ^ BirdLife International (2016). "Spatula cyanoptera". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T22680233A92851668. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22680233A92851668.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
- ^ a b c Dunn, J (2006)
- ^ a b c d Floyd T (2008)
- ^ Chandler, Justin. "Wayward duck in Niagara draws mad rush of birders looking to photograph the 'mega-rarity'". CBC News. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
- ^ Herrera et al. (2006)
- ^ 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. S2CID 8378355.
- ^ a b c d e Clements, J (2007)
Works cited
edit- 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 HarperCollins, 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
External links
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- "Cinnamon Teal media". Internet Bird Collection.
- Cinnamon Teal, Birds of North America Online
- Cinnamon Teal Species Account – Cornell Lab of Ornithology
- Cinnamon Teal photo gallery at VIREO (Drexel University)
- Interactive range map of Anas cyanoptera at IUCN Red List maps