TEAL
The teal is the smallest dabbling duck, measuring 340 to 430mm in length. The male, in breeding plumage, has a chestnut head and upper neck, with a wide iridescent dark green patch. The patch is bordered with thin yellowish white lines. The breast is buff with small round brown spots. The rest of the plumage is whitish grey. In non-breeding plumage, the male looks more like the female, which is yellowish brown, with darker wings and back. The upper head and hind neck are also dark brown. The green face patch on the breeding male, is how the colour teal came to be.
This duck winters here on Kefalonia and returns to northern Europe in mid-February to March for breeding. Large numbers can congregate in Winter, although, I have only seen singles and pairs here. Being dabbling ducks, they feed by upending but will occasionally dive for food. Aquatic invertebrates, molluscs and worms are its main diet, but they will also eat the seeds of aquatic plants and grasses during the Winter. They nest under cover, on the ground, near water. 8 to 11 eggs are laid and incubated for 3 weeks.
