Spatula discors
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~50%
The blue-winged teal (Spatula discors) is a species of bird in the duck, goose, and swan family Anatidae. One of the smaller members of the dabbling duck group, it occurs in North America, where it breeds from southern Alaska to Nova Scotia, and south to northern Texas. It winters along the Pacific and Atlantic coasts and south into the Caribbean islands and Central America.
The first formal description of the blue-winged teal was by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1766 in the twelfth edition of his Systema Naturae. He coined the binomial name Anas discors. A molecular phylogentic study comparing mitochondrial DNA sequences published in 2009 found that the genus Anas, as then defined, was non-monophyletic. The genus was subsequently split into four monophyletic genera with ten species including the blue-winged teal moved into the resurrected genus Spatula. This genus had been originally proposed by the German zoologist Friedrich Boie in 1822. The name Spatula is the Latin for a "spoon" or "spatula". The specific epithet discors is the Latin for "different" or "at variance".
The blue-winged teal is 40 cm (16 in) long, with a wingspan of 58 cm... Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | León | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 2 | Bogota | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 3 | San Luis Potosí | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 4 | Mexico City | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 5 | Miami | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Panama City | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 7 | Calgary | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 8 | Edmonton | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 9 | San Diego | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Los Angeles | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | National Zoological Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Ecomuseum Zoo | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 3 | Columbus Zoo and Aquarium | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Sedgwick County Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Parque y Zoológico Nacional Arquitecto Manuel Valverde Podestá | 🇩🇴 Dominican Republic | |
| 6 | Phoenix Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | The Maryland Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Xcaret | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 9 | Dakota Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Saint Louis Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 11 | Centro Cicogne e Anatidi | 🇮🇹 Italy | |
| 12 | Cologne Zoological Garden | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 13 | Aviario Nacional de Colombia | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 14 | Zoológico Thomas Belt | 🇳🇮 Nicaragua | |
| 15 | Tracy Aviary | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 16 | Aquarium of the Americas | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 17 | Florida Aquarium | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 18 | Ralph Perkins II Wildlife Center and Woods Garden | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 19 | Texas State Aquarium | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 20 | Cologne Zoo Aquarium | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 21 | Les Oiseaux du Marais Poitevin | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 22 | Ogród Zoologiczny w Katowicach | 🇵🇱 Poland |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Blue-winged Teal sighting in El Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve on a given day, based on 99 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 93rd most-seen of the 237 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.
October
In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Blue-winged Teal in El Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve on a given day, against under 5% in January, March and June–July, the lowest months.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Blue-winged Teal sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
14th of 62
Of the 62 parks where we can rate Blue-winged Teal sightings, El Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve ranks 14th at about 10%. The best odds are in Elk Island National Park (Canada, about 60%), Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge (United States, about 50%) and Palo Verde National Park (Costa Rica, about 40%). All parks ranked.
Same genus: Spatula
The closest relatives of the Blue-winged Teal that you can see in El Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve (genus Spatula, Shovelers and Allies) are Cinnamon Teal (about 20%) and Northern Shoveler (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Blue-winged Teal is recorded against all the birds logged in El Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve (99 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
