Mainly transient in North Carolina, you can see the Blue-winged Teal here in Lake Lure chiefly in spring and early autumn. Although the Blue-winged pictured here I photographed at the Wakodahatchee Wetlands in South Florida in January, there have been singles as well as a bevy of this bird in ponds at Apple Valley this spring on their way back to points north for the rest of spring and summer time.
Males are brown-bodied with dark speckling on the breast, a blue-gray head with a distinctive white face crescent behind the bill, and a small white hip patch in front of their black rear. Both males and females show the powder blue patch on their upper-wing coverts (for which the Blue-winged Teal is named) only in flight or when the wings are extended. Even though the teal is a “dabbling” duck, unlike other dabbling ducks, blue-wingeds do not “tip up” to feed on submerged vegetation. Instead, teal feed on seeds and plant matter gleaned from the water’s surface or by swimming with their heads submerged to find snails, aquatic insects, and crustaceans. Their preferred habitat are shallow, freshwater marshes and ponds and to take flight from the water the Blue-winged does not need a running start. But rather, they explode off the water and straight into the air in seconds. For easiest identification, on the water look for that white face crescent, and in the air look for the powder blue wing patch…and enjoy this beautiful bird as it visits our area for just a short while only passing through Lake Lure and WNC.
