Blue-winged Teal
(Anas discors)

Overview

Summary

© Jukka Jantunen
For additional photos and vocalizations, visit Dendroica. (Link opens in a new window.)

The Blue-winged Teal breeds throughout much of Canada with its core breeding range located in the Prairie Pothole Region. This species is one of the first duck species to migrate south in the fall and one of the last to migrate north in the spring. The national population declined in the 1980’s and 1990’s due to the droughts in the Prairies but the population has rebounded since then and has been steadily increasing since the end of the 1990’s. This species has been identified as a priority for conservation and/or stewardship in one or more Bird Conservation Region Strategies in Canada.

Designations

Population status

Population estimate

Distribution maps

• BirdLife International / NatureServe

Migration strategy, occurrence

Responsibility for conservation of world population

Conservation and management

Blue-winged Teal populations are greatly influenced by wetland conditions on the prairie breeding grounds. In eastern Canada, intensification of agricultural practices and destruction of favourable habitat in recent decades are thought to be the main factors responsible for the decline of the Blue-winged Teal (Ross 2010). Consequently, restrictive harvest regulations have been implemented in Quebec and Ontario. Blue-winged Teal do not account for a large portion of the harvest in Canada. Generally, fewer Blue-winged Teals are harvested in Canada compared to Green-winged Teals.

Bird conservation region strategies

Environment and Climate Change Canada and partners have developed Bird Conservation Region Strategies in each of Canada’s Bird Conservation Regions (BCRs). In these strategies, selected species are identified as priorities for one or more of the following reasons:

• conservation concerns (i.e., species vulnerable due to population size, distribution, population trend, abundance, or threats)
• stewardship responsibilities (i.e., species that typify the regional avifauna or have a large proportion of their range or population in the sub-region)
• management concerns (i.e., species that require ongoing management because of their socio-economic importance as game species, or because of their impacts on other species or habitats)
• other concerns (i.e., species deemed a priority by regional experts for other reasons than those listed above or because they are listed as species at risk or concern at the provincial level)

Select any of the sub-regions below to view the BCR strategy for additional details.

References

• Canadian Wildlife Service Waterfowl Committee. 2014. Population Status of Migratory Game Birds in Canada: November 2014. CWS Migratory Birds Regulatory Report Number 44. Canadian Wildlife Service Waterfowl Committee. 2014. Population Status of Migratory Game Birds in Canada: November 2014. CWS Migratory Birds Regulatory Report Number 44. (Link)
• Ross, K. 2010. Blue-winged Teal. pp. 80–81 In Cadman, M.D., D.A. Sutherland, G.G. Beck, D. Lepage and A.R. Couturier (Eds). Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Ontario, 2001–2005. Bird Studies Canada, Environment Canada, Ontario Field Ornithologists, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, and Ontario Nature, Toronto. xxii + 706 pp.