Blue-winged Ducks

     Three kinds of blue-winged ducks in North America are small, but attractive.  They are blue-winged teal, cinnamon teal and northern shovelers, all of which have a patch of pale-blue feathers on each upper wing of each gender of all species.  They all have that light-blue feathering because they are derived from a mutual ancestor.  Drakes of these species are handsome, but the females of each type are nearly look-alikes, and mottled-brown for camouflage, which is especially beneficial when raising young. 
     Female blue-winged teal and cinnamon teal are almost indistinguishable, showing their close relatedness, but drakes of each species have different breeding plumages, because each species developed apart from the other in the near past.  Male blue-wings are two-tone brown all over with a white crescent on each cheek and white on each side of the rump.  Cinnamon drakes have reddish-brown on their heads, necks and underparts, but are brown on their backs.
     The two teal species have almost identical voices, habits and food sources in their different niches, which demonstrates their being closely related.  At some point in time, one kind became isolated from the others and developed its own species in its niche, but with most of the characteristics of their relatives intact.              
     Shovelers are a bit larger than the teal, and have exceptionally long, broad beaks, even for ducks.  The attractive drakes have green heads, white chests and rufous flanks.  Hens of this species can be distinguished from female teal because of their slightly larger size and much bigger bills.  Both species of teal and the shovelers fly swiftly and erratically in compact flocks, again showing their common ancestry and making them hard to identify in flight, except for the shovelers' big beaks.
     All these duck species developed and continue to nest, for the most part, in the western United States and western Canada.  But some blue-winged teal and shovelers migrate through the Middle Atlantic States each spring and autumn.  However, it's a rare cinnamon teal that enters the Mid-Atlantic States at any time of year.
     Blue-wings winter along the Gulf Coast in the southern United States, the West Indies and in Latin America.  Shovelers spend winters along the Gulf Coast of the United States and through much of Mexico and cinnamon teal do so in Mexico.  As in their breeding territories, these duck species overlap one another, to some extent, on their wintering grounds.  
     Blue-wings are most likely to be seen in the Mid-Atlantic States late in spring and early in autumn.  But they are not always easy to spot because they are small, camouflaged and shelter among emergent vegetation in the shallows. 
     Though blue-wings nest for the most part in the west, a few do raise young in the eastern part of North America, including at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge near the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland and John Heinz Refuge along the Delaware River at Philadelphia.  This is the most eastern nesting species of this grouping of ducks. 
     The two kinds of teal eat the seeds of aquatic plants, plus water insects, snails and small crustaceans.  Ducklings mostly consume tiny animals to get protein for rapid growth. 
     Shovelers are mostly in the Middle Atlantic States during fall, including at Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area in southeastern Pennsylvania.  They have a unique method of feeding, an interesting and entertaining way that is exclusively theirs.  Little groups of them spin in one direction together in shallow water to stir plant material and tiny animals from the muddy bottom with their webbed feet.  Meanwhile, they scoop up water just above the mud with their shovel-like bills and strain edibles from it, using the combs on the edges of their beaks to do so.                
     Look for blue-winged teal and shoveler ducks in the Middle Atlantic States in spring and autumn.  They are not common here, and are small and camouflaged, making them a treat when seen.