Sometimes, when I photograph the same bird or mammal dozens of times over the course of a season or even years, I often give that creature a name. The mama deer that bedded down in our backyard one winter became “Dora,” the chipmunk with a bite out of his ear became “Nick,” and this female blue-winged teal at the Wolf Lake State Fish Hatchery became “Betty.”
How did I know that Betty was the same bird year after year? Well, blue-winged teals migrate. They don’t stay here in Michigan during the winter and I had been taking pictures of Betty every winter for four years. She was always on the same pond at the fish hatchery and was the only blue-winged teal. This past year, though, I never caught sight of her. She may have succumbed to natural causes or didn’t escape the jaws of a predator. I really don’t know, but it saddened me to lose her.
Have you ever seen a blue-winged teal? The male is a particularly handsome bird, with his blue-gray head and contrasting white crescent between his eyes and beak; a beautiful cinnamon-brown body sprinkled with small dark spots across its chest and flanks, and a little patch of blue feathers on his forewing. Surprisingly, those blue wing feathers, for which the blue-winged teal is named, are not a prominent feature. They remain mostly hidden – until he takes flight or stretches his wings.
The female blue-winged teal is less colorful than the male; a trait that is common among female birds and serves as protective camouflage while nesting and raising their young. She has mottled brown feathers overall and is similar in appearance to a female mallard, although quite a bit smaller. If you look closely, you might see a faint patch of white near the base of her beak, and a distinctive dark line through each eye. Female teals have the same blue wing patch as their male counterparts and it’s equally hidden when they are at rest.
Blue-winged teal are called dabbling ducks. A dabbling duck gleans food from the surface of the water with its head partially submerged; or it tips forward, bottoms up, and has its head totally under water to feast on the plants, seeds, and aquatic insects just below the surface.
Ducks that completely disappear under water to feed are called “diving ducks.”
They search for food much further below the surface than dabblers and randomly pop up 30, 40, or 50 feet away from where they originally dove under!
If Betty had been able to migrate with other blue-winged teal these last few winters, she would have departed in late August or early September. Blue-winged teal are usually the first waterfowl to head south in the winter (and the last to return in the spring). Some will set their sights on Florida or Mexico. Others will venture further south into Central or South America. Come spring, the blue-winged teal will head back north, but won’t arrive here until late April or early May, long after many other migrating waterfowl have already moved on. The timing and the route of their journey is largely instinctual; hardwired into their genetics and physiology.
Although the population of blue-winged teal is currently stable across the country, these birds remain vulnerable, particularly to habitat loss. In Michigan alone, an estimated 35 percent of our original 11 million acres of wetland habitat has been drained off or filled in, mostly for farming and building purposes. Wetland losses have already resulted in a national decline of several duck species as well as the loss of other wildlife that are dependent on those vital habitats. Blue-winged teal, as well as many other birds, also remain vulnerable to pesticide contamination, (notably on their wintering grounds in countries where DDT is still legal), climate change, wildfires, and the consumption of lead shot left behind by hunters.
From a Michigan DNR website: “With its vast water resources, Michigan is a key state for protecting and managing North American waterfowl populations. Many species of ducks, geese, and swans pause to rest and feed here as they migrate further north in spring and south in fall. Mallards, wood ducks, blue-winged teal, and Canada geese are the most common summer residents and nest in all 83 counties.”
Betty’s friends and family will be back in Michigan in just a few months. You’re most likely to find them swimming about in relatively small bodies of water that are both shallow and calm. In our area, the Wolf Lake State Fish Hatchery, with its multiple ponds, is often a good place to find migrating birds – just remember to bring your binoculars! The blue-winged teal, weighing in at about ten ounces, is a relatively small bird to find, especially if it’s hanging out in a flotilla of much larger mallards!
Enjoy your search!
