Waterfowl Communities in the Northern Plains

Blue-winged Teal

Blue-winged Teal. -- Blue-winged teal show a distribution similar to that of gadwall with the Prairie Pothole Region of North Dakota containing densities in the highest quartile. Continental numbers of blue-winged teal declined from 1974 through 1989; while Woodworth populations generally declined over this period, there was much annual variation (Fig. 8).

The strongest association between duck numbers and wetland sites was recorded for the blue-winged teal, as befits a species with strong pioneering tendencies. The r value obtained for Woodworth was even higher than that found more generally by Johnson and Grier (1988). Numbers of this species also correlated negatively with temperatures in both April and May and positively with precipitation in April. The best regression model included none of these variables; however, it did include May ponds, continental population, and the previous year's count.

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