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Platte River Status: An abundant migrant and fairly common breeding species. Occurrence dates at the Mormon Island Crane Meadows, Hall County, extend from 22 March to 30 September. Tout (1947) considered blue-winged teal a common migrant and occasional summer resident in Lincoln County, present 5 February to 15 November. Rosche (1979) found blue-winged teal present and breeding in the lower North Platte River Valley 28 March to 3 October.

Breeding Range: A common breeding species in the Rainwater Basin area of the Eastern Plain, and in the Sandhills. Fairly common locally in the Platte River Valley. Occasional during the breeding season elsewhere.

Breeding Population: The population in 1979-1980 was estimated at 5,730 breeding pairs. This species ranked second in abundance among nesting waterfowl, and made up 0.2% of the total bird population those years. Blue-winged teal made up 49% of the breeding waterfowl population on Waterfowl Production Areas in the Rainwater Basin area in 1983 (USFWS files).

Habitat: We found the highest mean density in wetlands (39.5 pairs/km²), followed by river channel island (2.7 pairs/km²), and wheat (0.5 pairs/km²). The nests we found were usually placed in wet sedge meadows and low prairie adjacent to shallow water or marshy areas. The presence of 5 blue-winged teal pairs on the North Platte sewage lagoon on 29 May 1979 suggests that occasional use is made of that artificial habitat type. Faanes (1982) found blue-winged teal an abundant species occupying virtually all wetlands classes present on a central North Dakota study area. Kantrud and Stewart (1977) reported that highest densities among blue-winged teal in North Dakota were almost evenly divided between seasonal wetland (122.4 pairs/km²) and temporary wetlands (112.6 pairs/km²). Duebbert and Lokemoen (1976) found that smooth brome, intermediate wheatgrass, and alfalfa provided suitable cover for nesting blue-winged teal in South Dakota. Highest densities of blue-winged teal nests in North Dakota were in untilled upland vegetation, stubble fields, and growing grain crops (Higgins 1977). In the Prairie Pothole Region of North Dakota and South Dakota, fields of seeded native grasses supported the highest number of blue-winged teal nests (Klett et al. 1984).

Effect of Habitat Alteration: Loss of water from the Platte River for agricultural purposes, drainage of the Rainwater Basin wetlands, and conversion of wet meadows and low prairie to cropland have adversely impacted breeding, nesting, and brood-rearing habitat for this species.

Nesting Data: We located 10 active nests at Mormon Island during 1980-1987. Egg dates extend from 24 May to 23 June. Clutch size ranged from 6 to 11 (_X=9.3). Tout (1947) observed an adult hen with a brood of 11 on a sandpit wetland east of North Platte on 8 July 1933. Egg dates in North Dakota extend from 26 April to 28 July (Stewart 1975), and from 1 to 30 May in Kansas (Johnsgard 1979).