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Australian Wildlife

  Grey Teal (Anas gracilis)





Grey Teal | Anas gracilis photo
Grey Teal (Anas gracilis), Gould's Lagoon, Tasmania, Australia

Image by JJ Harrison (http://www.noodlesnacks.com/) - Some rights reserved.    (view image details)

Grey Teal | Anas gracilis photo
Grey Teal swimming at Nga Manu Nature Reserve, Waikanae, New Zealand.

Image by Sid Mosdell from New Zealand - Some rights reserved.    (view image details)







GREY TEAL FACTS

Description
The Grey Teal is a small duck. It is mainly brown with pale edged feathers giving a mottled appearance. The chin and throat are pale. The Grey Teal is very similar to the female Chestnut Teal, but has lighter head and throat. Young birds are paler than adults. The duck is nomadic and moves to colonise suitable habitat where conditions are more favourable.

Size
40cm - 45cm

Habitat
freshwater lakes, wetlands, marshes

Food
plants, sees, insects, crustaceans

Breeding
Nests on the ground, or in tree hollow, or sometimes in rabbit burrow. Lays six to ten or more white eggs.

Range
Found across most of Australia where it is fairly widespread. Also found in in New Guinea, New Zealand, Vanuatu and Solomon Islands.

distribution map showing range of Anas gracilis in Australia

Credits:
Map is from Atlas of Living Australia website at https://biocache.ala.org.au licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.



Classification
Class:Aves
Order:Anseriformes
Family:Anatidae
Genus:Anas
Species:gracilis
Common Name:Grey Teal

Relatives in same Genus
  Northern Pintail (A. acuta)
  Chestnut Teal (A. castanea)
  Northern Shoveler (A. clypeata)
  Mallard (A. platyrhynchos)
  Garganey (A. querquedula)
  Australasian Shoveler (A. rhynchotis)
  Pacific Black Duck (A. superciliosa)