Eurasian Teal

Anas crecca

Order: Anseriformes
Family: Anatidae
Presence in the Strait: Seasonal
Abundance: scarce
IUCN (global): LC · Least concern
In Spanish: Cerceta común

Photograph: Smudge 9000, CC BY-SA, vía iNaturalist

Length: 34–38 cm
Wingspan: 58–64 cm
Weight: 325 g

Presence in the Strait

Scarce winter visitor to wetlands (<150).

Identification

The smallest duck, fast flight, wader-like, with a green speculum. The male has a grey body with yellow-buff stern. The base of the bill in females and juveniles is orange-yellow but more noticeable in the latter.

Movements

They arrive in September and leave in March.

Ring recoveries

Holland (9), France (5), Germany (1), Belgium (1), Denmark (1) and United Kingdom (1).

Bioestrecho editorial text. Last revised: 8 September 2026.

Photographs from iNaturalist observations with the licence checked file by file. Those marked “Strait” were taken within the area; place and date are those of each observation.

Calendar in the Strait

21 %

Peak in December. Observations under CC0 or CC BY licences. The distribution also reflects observation effort.

Where it is seen

Open records from the atlas database, in cells of about 3.6 km. Opacity follows the square root of the count, and also reflects where people observe most.

See on the map

First open record: 23 January 1968
Latest record: 31 December 2024

The oldest and the most recent open observation in the extended area. A recent first observation does not mean the species is new: it means nobody had published it openly before.

Conservation

The catalogues, Andalusian and Spanish, are what binds; the Red Book assesses the Spanish population with IUCN criteria, and the global Red List is the context.

LCNTVUENCR

Andalusian Catalogue: Not included
Spanish Catalogue: Not included
Red Book of the Birds of Spain 2021: DD · Data deficient · breeding — LC · Least concern · wintering or migrating
Global Red List (IUCN): LC · Least concern

Andalusian Catalogue: Junta de Andalucía, list of 24 April 2025. Spanish Catalogue: MITECO, table of 30 June 2025. Red Book: SEO/BirdLife, 2021 (Annex I). IUCN: via GBIF, 6 September 2026. Red Book and IUCN categories are assessments; catalogue categories are legal obligations.

Where they come from

18 birds ringed in other countries and recovered in the area.

Netherlands9
France5
Germany1
Belgium1
Denmark1
United Kingdom1

See the journey on the map

Same genus in the Strait

Garganey37–41 cm · Migrant · overlapping size
Eurasian Wigeon45–51 cm · Seasonal
Northern Shoveler49–52 cm · Seasonal
Mallard51–62 cm · Resident
Northern Pintail61–76 cm · Seasonal

Species of the same genus that also occur here, ordered by how close they are in size. Being relatives does not mean they are confused in the field, but that is where the doubts start: compare size and season.

Classification

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Anseriformes
Family: Anatidae
GBIF taxon key: 8214667

Sources

Distribution and calendar: Bioestrecho's own database, ingested from GBIF and OBIS
Photograph: Smudge 9000, CC BY-SA, vía iNaturalist
Taxonomy: GBIF backbone, pending WoRMS for marine taxa
Editorial text: written by Bioestrecho
Last revised: 8 September 2026

Eurasian Teal

Presence in the Strait

Identification

Movements

Ring recoveries

Gallery