Common and pretty dabbling ducks, teal gather in large numbers in winter on flooded gravel pits, reservoirs and floodplain meadows. Many of these birds are migrants from the cold climes of the Baltic and Siberia. In summer, teal breed in small numbers in the UK, mostly in the north.
How to identify
The teal is our smallest duck. Males are grey, with a speckled breast, a yellow-and-black tail, a chestnut-coloured head and a bright green eye patch. Females are mainly mottled brown, but both sexes show a bright green wing patch in flight.
Did you know?
Collectively, a group of teal is known as a 'spring' because of the way they can take-off suddenly and vertically, as if they have jumped straight off the ground!
