This is bird note.

As a flock of ducks lift off from a marsh,

their wings reveal large patches of powder blue and emerald.

These dabbling ducks are called blue wing teal.

They're petite birds, noticeably smaller than mallards.

The male's blue grey head has a bright white crescent at the base of the bill,

and his cinnamon sides and underparts are peppered with dark dots.

Females are modeled grayish brown.

Blue wing teal are long distance migrants,

traveling from nesting areas in Canada and the US to South America for the winter.

They feed in shallow water,

with a preference during the breeding season for snails and fly larvae.

In fall and winter, they seek out plant matter, especially seeds.

Blue wing teal pair up during the winter,

and migrate together in spring to a nesting area,

often to where the female was born.

There, the female will lay about 10 eggs,

which hatch after three weeks.

Once the eggs hatch, mother and ducklings walk away from the nest area within 24 hours,

never to return to their nest again.

Within just weeks, the young will be flying,

and ready to join their parents in their great migration south.

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