Thread: Teal

Hey Guys, i'm hoping you can give me a bit of an insight into teal.

I was out tonight watching over my decoys and a flock of ducks circled and landed in the pond.
It was late so i could only see the silhouettes against the sky and i couldn't positively identify them, but then i heard them calling
One was a quack but it was shorter and of a higher pitch than normal, the other was a squeak similar to a mouse.
Am i right in assuming that there were Teal?

RR

sounds about right. If they didn't sound like ducks, chances are they were teal! The main call they make is short of like a cackle, hard to explain and a squeak noise

Yep -they have a high pitched and rapid quack/peep. They also turn and land quicker than mallards. Nice restraint in not shooting. Some of the guys where I shoot can't tell the difference between a mallard, a teal, and a scaup. If it flies - it dies where they are concerned. Even the shags are not safe.

I have about 60 on my pond their small size and flight speed should be a give away. They have white stripes under their wings. I also noticed they dont always land into the wind. last night most on my pond flew straight in with the wind unlike mallards. They also dont get spooked easily like mallards.

Teal also skim in and land like they are surfing with a "swisssh" noise on the water. Dabbling ducks land with a audible splash. Teal's white stripes are atop their wings btw.

There is definitely white or another lite colour under their wings unless im looking at a different bird.

Yep there is white underwing, but the noticeable 'flashes' are on the dorsal of the wing.
Here we go

Cheers Guys,
I'm pretty sure they were Teal after what i saw and heard and what you guys have said.
Its funny, i have never seen them in person before then i go out and see about a dozen of them all at once.
RR

theyre daggy wee buggers-out on ellesmere the hurtle along like a boyracer with a cop car chocka up em! another stunt they'd do periodically was land a swimup &down the decoys chattering like HRH reviewing the fleet!last time a pair did it ,they stopped by one of my goose floaters and had a ??barney b4 parting company and ashooting through.
i like em.must admit though have been fooled at times as they come into the corner of your eye as they hurtle through.Ive also twice seen cunning bloody mallards hide in the middle of a flight as they came through.mr mallard later flew back cocka...... bang!!!!!!!thats enough of that shit sherlock.

[QUOTE] Some of the guys where I shoot can't tell the difference between a mallard, a teal, and a scaup[/QUOTE]
ive noticed a distinct drop in thier numbers over the last 2 years on the boggy side of ellesmere??
is it true the best way to tell teal from spoonies is the way spoonies jink in?

spoonies and teal are quite hard to tell the difference, spoonies are quite loud flyers, but i find the easiest way is to look for that spoon bill, teals beaks are extremely small, and i still find it the easiest method to distinguish the birds especially in low light.

it can be very hard to tell the difference between spoonies and teal just on dusk when the ducks tend to come in. I shot a teal once, because I thought it was a spoonie. they look and sound the same ish. but it was all my fault coz I did not positively id my target. has not happened since.