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Breeding Range. (Fig. 25). Common (locally abundant) throughout the Prairie Pothole Region and in the Turtle Mountains; fairly common on the Coteau Slope; uncommon in the Agassiz Lake Plain Region and on the Missouri Slope and Little Missouri Slope.

Breeding Habitat. Complexes that contain a variety of wetlands, ranging in salinity from fresh to subsaline. These include temporary, seasonal, and semipermanent ponds and lakes and shallow river impoundments that are managed for waterfowl use. Also occurs regularly in pools along intermittent streams and on stock ponds and dugouts.

Nesting. Breeding season: Late April to mid-September; peak, mid-May to mid-August. Extreme egg dates (583 nests): April 26 [1969] in Stutsman County (L. M. Kirsch) to July 28 [1964] in Stutsman County (RES). Of all nests with eggs that were recorded, + percent (2 nests) were found in late April, 40 percent in May, 56 percent in June, and 4 percent in July. Extreme dates of dependent young (1251 broods): June 17 [1968] in Foster County (H. A. Kantrud) to September 13 [1962] in Stutsman County (RES). Of all broods recorded, 5 percent were observed in June, 50 percent in July, 44 percent in August, and 1 percent in September.

Blue-winged Teal nests were situated in a considerable variety of habitats. The great majority were found in wet-meadow zones of natural ponds and lakes; and in native prairie, retired cropland, hayfields, weedy field borders, and other similar situations. Investigations on the Lostwood National Wildlife Refuge by Salyer (1962) indicated that the density of active nests during a "good" wet year (1960) was much greater than during a "poor" dry year (1961).

Indicated clutch size (349 nests): 8 to 13 eggs; mean, 10.3 eggs. During 1969 in Stutsman County, Page and Cassel (1971) found that the average clutch size in 23 nests representing initial attempts was 10.9 eggs, while the average clutch size in 8 nests that represented renesting attempts was 9.0 eggs.

Figure 25. Breeding Range of Blue-winged Teal.