Local Wildlife
Northern Cinnamon Teal
Scientific Name: Anas cyanoptera
Audio: Listen Now
Audio Source: Unknown
Addt'l Info: Univ. of Michigan
The male northern cinnamon teal has distinctive cinnamon coloring on its head, neck, stomach, and sides with a black bill and red eyes. The inner part of their forewings is light blue and the underside is white. The female has a light brown head and neck, gray bill, and brown eyes. Both have mottled brown wing feathers.
Cinnamon teals prefer to live near freshwater ponds, lakes, or slow streams bordered by fairly dense emergent vegetation, especially when nesting. Bodies of water with marshy areas are particularly appealing because of the food sources available in them. In Sunriver, you are most likely to see them in the stagnant inlets of the Deschutes river or the waterways that connect Lake Aspen to it.
About 80% of the cinnamon teal's diet is plant matter (largely seeds, grasses, and other vegetation). The remainder is comprised mostly of mollusks and insects. Feeding usually takes place in shallow water by skimming or filtering foods floating on the surface or bottom sediments.
A monogamous, solitary nester, a cinnamon teal will lay a clutch of 4 to 16 eggs in April or May in a half-moon shaped nest constructed by the female. Along with their mother, young birds leave the nest within 24 hours of hatching. The ducklings are able to feed themselves from the first day that they hatch. Cinnamon teals travel in small flocks and are fast fliers. Individuals are typically active during the morning and evening hours and rest on small bodies of water in midday.
