Anas carolinensis
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~50%
The green-winged teal (Anas carolinensis) or American teal is a common and widespread duck that breeds in the northern areas of North America except on the Aleutian Islands. It was considered conspecific with the Eurasian teal (A. crecca) for some time, but the two have since been split into separate species. The American Ornithological Society continues to debate this determination; however, nearly all other authorities consider it distinct based on behavioral, morphological, and molecular evidence. The scientific name is from Latin Anas, "duck" and carolinensis, "of Carolina".
This dabbling duck is strongly migratory and winters far south of its breeding range. It is highly gregarious outside of the breeding season and will form large flocks. In flight, the fast, twisting flocks resemble waders.
The green-winged teal was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it with the other ducks, geese and swans in the genus Anas and coined the binomial name Anas carolinensis. Gmelin based his description on the "American teal" that had been described in 1785 by... Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Anchorage | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Mesa | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | León | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 4 | Ciudad Juárez | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 5 | Vancouver | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 6 | Denver | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Portland | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | San Luis Potosí | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 9 | Seattle | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | San Francisco | 🇺🇸 United States |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Green-winged Teal sighting in Los Angeles on a given day, based on 10,150 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 93rd most-seen of the 426 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
November to February
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Green-winged Teal in Los Angeles on a given day, against under 5% in May to August, the lowest months. Those are among Los Angeles's wettest months, with about 60 mm of rain a month against almost none in June.
Between 2 and 5 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Green-winged Teal sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
12th of 38
Of the 38 cities where we can rate Green-winged Teal sightings, Los Angeles ranks 12th at about 10%. The best odds are in Anchorage (United States, about 40%), Mesa (United States, about 40%) and León (México, about 30%).
Same genus: Anas
The closest relatives of the Green-winged Teal that you can see in Los Angeles (genus Anas, Mallards, Pintails, and Allies) are Mallard (about 60%) and Northern Pintail (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Green-winged Teal is recorded against all the birds logged in Los Angeles (10,150 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
