Cinnamon teal

Scientific name: Spatula cyanoptera

How weight is recorded: Whole weight

Field notes

Appearance

Males are distinctive with cinnamon-rufous head, neck, and body plumage; females are mottled brown and buff with a slightly paler face. Both sexes show pale blue-green wing coverts in flight and are small, compact dabbling ducks.

Size and weight

Males 38–48 cm, 340–550 g; females 37–46 cm, 280–450 g.

Habitat

Cinnamon teal favor shallow freshwater marshes, prairie ponds, and alkaline lakes with emergent vegetation and muddy margins. They prefer open or semi-open water bodies from sea level to montane elevations.

Distribution

Found across western North America from British Columbia to Mexico; prefer interior marshes and alkaline wetlands of the Great Basin and prairie regions, with populations concentrated in the western U.S. during breeding.

Diet

Cinnamon teal dabble for aquatic invertebrates, seeds, and plant material; they favor mosquito larvae, small crustaceans, and duckweed, with seasonal shift toward seeds in autumn.

Behaviour

Highly social and dabbling feeders, active during dawn and dusk but also feeding throughout the day; they prefer shallow water and often stay in tight flocks, flying low and fast when flushed.

Hunting tips

Look for tight flocks on shallow ponds and marsh edges at dawn and dusk; approach from downwind using terrain and vegetation for cover. They flush quickly in small, fast-flying groups, so positioning along flight corridors between roost and feed areas is effective; decoys work well when placed in shallow margins.

Whole weight

This species is logged by whole weight — the animal weighed entire, as taken.

Where it is hunted

Listed as huntable in 3 countries in Huntify.

Names in other languages

These field notes are general species knowledge, not legal advice. Always check the current seasons, quotas and firearm rules where you hunt.