Callum Macgregor

The A. c. crecca subspecies shows a large breeding range across the N Palaearctic (BirdLife International 2021). Scattered breeding in Europe (Keller et al. 2020); populations vary from resident to migratory. Wintering quarters on European birds are found within the Palaearctic region (BirdLife International 2021).

Season of assessment

W

Population trendIncreasing
Population size
(min-max, best estimate)		1040000-1640000,1240000
Red List categoryLC
Franks, S., Fiedler, W., Arizaga, J., Jiguet, F., Nikolov, B., van der Jeugd, Ambrosini, R, Aizpurua, O., Bairlein, F., Clark, J., Fattorini, N, Hammond, M., Higgins, D, Levering, H., Skellorn, W., Spina, F, Thorup, K. Walker, J., Woodward, I. and Baillie, S.R. (1) (2022) Online Atlas of the movements of European bird populations. https://migrationatlas.org EURING/CMS (1) Principal investigator
Map

Overall Connectivity for Eurasian Teal

W/NW/SW Europe (i.e., the Atlantic façade of Europe incl. British Islands) is a main wintering area for birds from most Europe, suggesting they all are a same population (Guillemain et al. 2009, Lebarbenchon et al. 2009). Stable isotopes show that most teals that overwinter in France come from Russia (Guillemain et al. 2014), an aspect underrepresented by ring-recovery data. Teals breeding in W/NW/SW vary from resident to those doing local to short-range migrations. Icelandic birds overwinter in British Islands. More E populations tend to a S/SE axis of migration, thus overwintering in SC to SE Europe. Thus, whilst N Scandinavian birds move SW, E/SE Scandinavian birds move S/SE, but there are birds of a same breeding site that can use either a SW or S/SE flyway. SC Europe hosts wintering birds from both NW and NE origin, thus giving rise to overlapping of populations. Exceptional number of teals found to cross the Sahara with recoveries as far as Kenya. Tracking data largely confirm such main flyways, incl. overwintering in E Africa from a Baltic population. Also some recoveries in Canada.

Recoveries by Condition for Eurasian Teal

Overall, half of this species recoveries (>50%) are due to shot, because this species is hunted across much of Europe. Before 1960, recoveries from shooting were 44%, increasing up to 57% in 1961–1990, then decreasing up to 36% from 1991 to present. In this last period, it is remarkable that a high proportion of recoveries (58%) was due to birds captured alive, due to the efforts in ringing stations. The proportion of recoveries identified by other means like nasal saddles still represent a small proportion (<1%). Nasal saddles, however, revealed to be very useful to address population dynamics studies at certain sites (Caizergues et al. 2011).

Annual Movements for Eurasian Teal

Post-breeding migration starts as early as Jul. Birds remain at their wintering areas from Aug/Sep to Jan/Mar (Guillemain et al. 2006). Breeding grounds reached up to May. These estimates confirmed by by tracking data from birds from Italy (Giunchi et al. 2019). Tracking data also show that teals have slow speeds of migration (ca. 36 km/day) caused by long stopovers (Giunchi et al. 2019).

Connectivity by Month by Region for Eurasian Teal

Temporal pattern similar between regions, i.e. independent of distance of migration. Post-breeding movement starts as early as Jun/Jul. Wintering areas reached since Aug/Sep. Return to breeding areas peak in Mar; by May most birds found at their breeding sites. Two juvenile recoveries in tropical Africa in Mar and two adults in E Asia in Oct and Nov.

Olatz Aizpurua & Juan Arizaga

References

Statistics Map
N records N individuals N recoveries
Mapped data*
Total available data
*Mapped data include only distant (>= 50 km) recoveries
References Map
2020 . European Breeding Bird Atlas 2: Distribution, Abundance and Change. European Bird Census Council & Lynx Edicions, BarcelonaEditor(s): Keller, V., S. Herrando, P. Voříšek, et al.
BirdLife International2021 . Species factsheet: Anas crecca.
Caizergues, A., Guillemain, M., Arzel, C., Devineau, O., Leray, G., Pilvin, D., Lepley, M., Massez, G., Schricke, V.2011 . Emigration rates and population turnover of teal Anas crecca in two major wetlands of western Europe. Wildlife Biology 17: 373–382
Giunchi, D., Baldaccini, N. E., Lenzoni, A., Luschi, P., Sorrenti, M., Cerritelli, G., Vanni, L.2019 . Spring migratory routes and stopover duration of satellite-tracked Eurasian Teals Anas crecca wintering in Italy. Ibis 161: 117–130
Guillemain, M., Arzel, C., Mondain-Monval, J.-Y., Schricke, V., Johnson, A. R., Simon, G.2006 . Spring migration dates of teal Anas crecca ringed in the Camargue, southern France. Wildlife Biology. Wildlife Biology 12: 163–169
Guillemain, M., Hearn, R., King, R., Gauthier-Clerc, M., Simon, G., Caizergues, A.2009 . Comparing the migration of Eurasian Teal Anas crecca from two main wintering areas of Western Europe: a long-term study from Essex, England, and the Camargue, France. Ringin and Migration 24: 273–276
Guillemain, M., Van Wilgenburg, S. L., Legagneux, P., Hobson, K. A.2014 . Assessing geographic origins of Teal (Anas crecca) through stable-hydrogen (δ 2H) isotope analyses of feathers and ring-recoveries. Journal of Ornithology 155: 165–172
Lebarbenchon, C., Albespy, F., Brochet, A.-L., Grandhomme, V., Renaud, F., Fritz, H., Green, A. J., Thomas, F., van der Werf, S., Aubry, P., Guillemain, M., Gauthier-Clerc, M.2009 . Spread of Avian Influenza Viruses by Common Teal (Anas crecca) in Europe. Plos One 4 4

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