Green-winged teal

Description:

A rare color variant. This is a green-winged teal with blue patches instead of green on the head and wings. It's not a blue-winged teal those have a white facial crescent. This is the first time I've ever seen this.

Habitat:

Spotted in the mudflats of the Nisqually river at the Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge. Green-winged teal are abundant in wetlands of the Canadian parkland and northern boreal forest associations. They occur more often in mixed-prairie associations than in shortgrass associations. They also inhabit arctic tundra and semidesert communities. Within the above associations, green-winged teal commonly inhabit wetland communities dominated by bulrushes (Scirpus spp.), cattails (Typha spp.), sedges (Carex spp.), pondweeds (Potamogeton spp.) and other emergent and aquatic vegetation. Green-winged teal frequently nest in grasses, sedge meadows, or on dry hillsides having brush or aspen (Populus spp.) cover.