BirdWalk

Newsletter 1.29.2017 Walk Conducted by: Perry Nugent

Newsletter Written by: Jayne J. Matney

Photo right by Cary McDonald Blue-winged Teal male with duckweed beak and chest followed by female partner Photo below by Chuck Fuhrman Two Green-winged Teal males This week will be the first in a series of articles covering the ducks of Magnolia Plantation. Most of our duck population is not of permanent residences. Instead, they migrate in for wintering and migrate out for breeding. The males are called “drakes” and the females are called “hens”. Some of these ducks are considered “dabblers”, which means they eat primarily along the surface of the water chewing or filtering from the surface and rarely dive, while others are the “divers”, which do just that-they dive head first into the water for feeding. Dabbling ducks will occasionally dive for food or to escape predators.

Photo above left by Chuck Fuhrman Blue-winged Teal Photo above right by Perry Nugent Green-winged Teal

The Blue-winged Teal, Anas discors, (above left) and the Green-winged Teal, Anas crecca, (above right) will be discussed this week. They are in the category of dabblers; both species primarily feed off of aquatic plants and seeds from the surface of the water and small larvae, insects, and crustaceans that may be found there as well. Apparently, egg laying females may feed mostly on animal rather than plant during those special times. Both species are small comparatively to other types of ducks, rest out of the water on stumps, rocks and broken branches, and are fast in flight. They migrate in large flocks in the fall and group in smaller flocks or isolated pairs during the spring breeding times. These two teal species located here are ducks that winter all the way down into South America, while our geographic location would be considered on their most northern wintering range. Green-winged Teal especially tend to winter further north. Although they can be found migrating off-shore over the ocean, rarely do either types of North American teal make it over to Europe. Neither of these species are on the State of the Birds Watch List which gives them a “least concern” status. Many don’t realize that these ducks come in from/and go to areas of North America such as the grasslands of central Unites States and the summer tundra of Northern North America and Canada Borders where they breed. Because their distribution throughout the year is spread out so much due to migration, conservation measures are needed with cooperation between Canada, United States, Latin America, and South America. The Audubon Society and Ducks Unlimited are very instrumental in helping with this cause. Therefore, habitat protection and hunting practices are key components for researchers and conservation efforts. The males and the females of the Green-winged Teal leave approximately the same time or together for migrating. However, the Blue-winged Teal males tend to leave the females and immature birds for an early migration south. The females and immatures fly out later. The Blue-winged Teal are generally the “first ducks south in the fall and the last ones north in the spring” according to all researched sources. The habitat for both types of ducks, Blue-winged and Green-winged Teals, are the marshes, swamps, and ponds of zero to low water movement. Because they are small ducks, they cannot live well in faster moving waters. In the winter, both types of teal like to inhabit areas of wetlands with bulrush, cattail, pondweeds, sedges, etc. They can also choose areas of deciduous forests for wintering as long as ponds are available within the forest or boreal forest during breeding. For breeding grounds, inland waters with grassy ground as a perimeter is ideal. Prairies and parklands are ideal, but agricultural grassland with water holes are very useful. That is why the Blue-winged Teal is the most abundant ducks in the grass-prairie lands of the Dakotas and Canada during breeding season. The females pick out the spot once breeding ground migration has been accomplished. With both types of teal, the females make the nest by scraping away at the ground near the water to make an indentation or bowl structure. She will include readily available plant material and then coat the inside with down feathers for the eggs to rest upon.

Green-winged Teal pairing Photo by Chuck Fuhrman ` Nesting occurs on the ground in the grasses with some cover, however, a study conducted by Erik Fritzell, “Effects of Agricultural Burning on Nesting Waterfowl”, surprisingly reports that the lower the cover, the better the success of the nest. The nesting is on the ground, yet the ducklings find their way almost immediately to the water after incubation and hatching. During incubation, the females do the work while the males go off to molt. The females generally molt during breeding. Eggs laid are similar to each species in number (5-16 eggs), however, both are usually laying in the median of this range. Blue-winged Teal eggs are dull white to tinged olive, while the Green-winged Teal eggs are generally more of a cream to pale buff in color.

To Visually Identify These Species: The Blue-winged Teal adult male is light brown with speckles, but has a greyish blue head with a very distinct, white crescent moon across its face between the bill and the eye. There is also a patch of white on the rear flank, and a black tail. The female is mottled brown with a faint white at the base of the bill. Both sexes have large, black Photo above by Robyn and Dana Hogan bills and yellowish legs and feet. Photos below by Perry Nugent They are named for their bold, blue upper wing coverts. This vivid blue is most visible when they are in flight.

The Green-winged Teal is the smallest of the North American dabbling ducks. The adult male in breeding plumage is mostly gray (flanks and back), with a chestnut colored head and gorgeous green streaks traveling from the eyes, across the side of the head and ending at the back of the neck. Photo left by Jo Frkovich

It also has a vertical white stripe on the side of the breast. They have a dark slate bill and dark gray legs and feet, unlike the Blue-winged Teal. The females are light brown in color with a faint darker brown line through the eye region. Their bills are also a dark gray with feet and legs being a more muddled gray with some olive to brownish undertones. Dabbling Green-winged Teal showing vertical white streak Photo by Chuck Fuhrman

Vocalizations and Mating Behaviors: The Blue-winged Teal vocalization descriptions vary slightly depending upon where you are reading the descriptions, but basically the male has a short whistle and the female has a high-pitched squeak or a soft quack. Pairing begins early winter and carry over into the spring migration. The males will orient himself to the side of the female, pump his head up and down (sometimes dunking his head rapidly under water), raise his body feathers as if to puff himself up, and/or completely submerge his front half of his body with tail raised high in the air and will wave his feet just for good measure. If accepting, the female may respond by “inciting” which means to raise and lower the head with bill facing the male. The Green-winged Teal are considered very noisy ducks. The male with a “clear whistle” and the female with a soft quack- just as the blues. According to the Audubon Society and Field Guide, the male tries to attract the female “by rearing up out of the water, arching the head forward and downward to shake the bill very rapidly in the water while giving a sharp whistle.”

Green-winged Teal Pair Photo by Perry Nugent

Fun Facts:

 About half of the nesting failures for teal are due to disruptions by mammals such as fox, skunk, raccoons, weasels, mink, and badgers. Two-thirds of these failures are due to skunks!  Blue-winged Teal have proven their abilities to travel long distances very quickly. One individual which was banded in Alberta, Canada was then shot in Venezuela only a month later.  The oldest known Blue-winged Teal was at least 23 years, 3 months old. This drake was banded in Saskatchewan and found in Cuba.  Ducks are generally flightless during their molting and hide out in marsh and prairie grasses.  Blue-winged Teal are the second most abundant duck in North America behind the Mallards.  Ring-necked Pheasants sometimes lay eggs in the Blue-winged Teal’s nest.  Some southward bound flocks of Blue-winged Teal are entirely made up of young birds which shows the migratory routes are instinctual rather than learned.  The Eurasian teal are distinguished from where the white stripe is located on the body. They lack the vertical stripe on the side like American blue wings but rather have a horizontal white stripe on their back.  The Aleutian Islands, along the coast of Alaska, have their own race of Green-winged Teal and they will not migrate!  Green-winged Teal have comb-like teeth along the inner edge of the bill called “lamellae” which help them filter little animals from the water.  Teal can be very “fickle” about their migration for wintering. Each year is a new year to them and they may go even as far as a different state from one winter to the next.  The oldest known Green-winged Teal on record was at least 20 years, 3 months old. This female was banded in Oklahoma and found in Missouri over 20 years later.  Green-winged Teal hit an all-time low in 1962 with estimation of only 722,000 individuals, but has had a steady increase in their population since.  Even though the Green-winged Teal are the smallest of the ducks, they have the fastest growth rate of all ducks!  During spring months, Green-winged Teal have been noted to feed off of the maggots of decaying fish!

**Sources for this article where: All About Birds, The Cornell Lab of Ornithology; Ducks Unlimited publications, www.ducks.org; Audubon Society’s Audubon Field Guide On-line, www.audubon.org; Wikipedia**

This Sunday was cold, breezy, and partly cloudy. 52 species were accounted for with two participants attending. These days, the plantation is basically having days of cool mornings with fairly pleasant temperatures by mid-day. Our Blue- winged Teal and Green-winged Teal numbered 30 and 20 respectively. Gadwall numbers were the highest this week again with 100. Also at Ravenswood Pond were 6 American Wigeon, which is actually a higher number than usual for a single day, and 4 Bufflehead. The Pied-billed Grebe, Double Crested Cormorant, Anhinga, Common Moorhen, and American Coot were the other water birds seen. The wading birds did not disappoint with Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Little Blue Heron, and White Ibis. The number of White Ibis (26) was especially enjoyable to see. Most of these Ibis were found at Ravenswood as were the rest of the wading birds; however, there was a few at the cross dike along the water’s edge and 4 in the trees there. Always a highlight to see are the Bald Eagles. 2 adults and 3 young birds were seen flying above or sitting on the “regular” branch across from the boat dock. 2 Northern Harrier were also seen at the large old rice field. Red-shouldered hawk made themselves loud and clear. Their calls were heard and later one decided to give Perry and Ray a close up view as it perched in a tree next to them, almost close enough to touch. Ray notes that they can be “pretty fearless and very approachable and Perry likes to remind us with a gleam in his eye, ‘because they know that you can’t catch them’, but if you could, you Red-shouldered Hawk “Close enough?” will probably live to regret it!” Photo by Ray Swagerty Perry went on to describe how an otter crossed a trail in front of them on this Sunday morning, slid down the bank, and dove into the water leaving ripples as the only clue that he had ever been there. He knew something was amiss before the birders knew, because a few seconds later, a Red-shouldered Hawk flew over the surface of that rippling water. In the woodpecker family of birds, the Red-bellied, Downy, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, and the Northern Flicker were counted. 3 of the 6 flickers were right there in the parking lot greeting them for the beginning of their early walk. There was a morphing large flock of Swallow Tree over the river as Ray and Perry stood on the river dike. It was impossible to count, but it was estimated to be at least 500. Another flock near the cross dike was of the American Robin. This one was estimated to consist of 50. Yellow-rumped Warblers were seen just about everywhere on the plantation grounds. The Pine Warbler was seen between the entrance and exit roads (which Perry is expecting to hear singing on next week’s walk), the Black- and-white Warbler was located near the cabins, and the 2 Palm Warbler were seen at the edge of the cattails along the cross dike. Yellow-rumped Warbler Photo by Chuck Fuhrman Above: Note the yellow patch at the breast/shoulder junction and a hint of the yellow patch on the top of the rump.

Below: Palm Warbler (note the yellow patch at the base of the tail and the eye stripe) Photo by J. Goddard

3 Savannah Sparrow (one at the cross dike and 2 in the Audubon Swamp) were seen while 2 Song Sparrow, and 1 White-throated Sparrow were also included in the count. In the woody area near the cabins, approximately 20 Rusty Blackbird were mixed in with Red-winged Blackbirds. They had found a spot along the water edge but sheltered in the trees. An American Goldfinch was first heard and then seen near this wooded area as well. Those quick little Ruby-crowned Kinglets and Eastern Bluebirds are fun to watch but difficult to photograph. The regulars seen on the walk included: Mourning Dove, Eastern Phoebe, Blue-jay, American Crow, Fish Crow, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Wren, Hermit Thrush, Northern Mockingbird, Northern Cardinal, Common Grackle, Boat-tailed Grackle, Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, and the Ring-billed Gulls.

Although Perry first spoke about the otter earlier this week, another member caught the guy on camera a few days later! Photo by Chuck Fuhrman