Blue Wing Teal
The Blue-winged Teal is common in both the wild and in captivity. They are fairly easy to breed and maintain in aviaries. They will do well in a mixed collection, as long as they are not bullied by larger birds.
This species is very similar to the Cinnamon Teal and will cross with them, the hybrid hens can be very hard to distinguish from pure birds and care should be taken to keep the two species separate.
Their breeding season is in Spring and begins in April in my region. These birds can breed their first Spring.
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First year males are slow to acquire their adult plumage and do not fully color until late winter.
Some hens will accept nest boxes, however natural vegetation is normally preferred.
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Clutches consist of 6-8 eggs and are incubated for about 24 days. The ducklings of this species present no special problems and are quite easy to rear.
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To my knowledge there are no color mutations of the blue-winged teal.
