Greenwing Teal
The Green-winged teal is the smallest of the North American dabbling species with some weighing as little as 11 ounces. They can easily fit through two inch openings.
This species is fairly easy to maintain and breed in a captive setting and is compatible with other waterfowl species in a mixed collection. Care should be taken to make sure larger species do not bully this small teal.
Green wing are ground nesters, some may accept boxes, however our birds usually prefer natural cover. They can and often do breed their first year. The breeding season is in Spring and in my region, starts in April. This is a species that we have had some success keeping and breeding in trios (1 males 2 females).
Clutches consist of 6 to 8 eggs and are incubated for about 24 days. The ducklings of this species present no special challenges to rear, as they readily begin eating and are fairly calm.
To my knowledge, there are no color mutations of the green-winged teal.
