Galapagos Species Database

The Galapagos Species Database shares the information about the species from our Natural History Collections.

Anas discors Linnaeus, 1766

Cerceta aliazul, Blue-winged Teal

Length 39 cm; wingspan 63 cm. A small brownish duck with conspicuous large, pale blue patch on shoulder which is obvious in flight. At rest this patch sometimes shows as a horizontal blue line. Green wing speculum. Adult male has white crescent in front of eye and white patch on the flanks, black around tail. Immediately told the resident species by the blue wing patch (Harris 1974; Castro & Phillips 1996).

Taxonomy

Domain
Eukaryota

Kingdom
Animalia

Phylum
Chordata

Class
Aves

Order
Anseriformes

Family
Anatidae

Genus
Anas

Species
discors

Taxon category: Accepted

Syn.: Spatula discors Linnaeus, 1766

Origin: Migrant

Status

Least concern

Distribution

Distribution: Regular migrant in small numbers; most common October - March, but the species has been recorded in most months (Harris 1973). Most frequently recorded from the lagoons on Isabela, San Cristóbal, and Santa Cruz, and in the highlands of Santa Cruz (Castro and Phillips1996).

References

  • Freile, J.F. Santander, T., Jiménez-Uzcátegui, G., Carrasco, L., Cisneros-Heredia, D., Guevara, E., Sánchez-Nivicela, M., Tinoco, B. (2019) Lista Roja de las aves del Ecuador Quito, Ecuador. 97 pp.
  • Gifford, E.W. (1913) The birds of the Galápagos Islands, with observations on the birds of Cocos and Clipperton Islands (Columbiformes to Pelicaniformes). Expedition of the California Academy of Science, 1905 -1906. Part VIII. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, ser. 4, 2(1): 1-132.
  • Harris, M.P. (1973) The Galápagos avifauna. Condor 75(3): 265-278.
  • Hickin, N. (1979) Animal life of the Galapagos. Ferundune Books, Faringdon, U.K., 236 pp.
  • Lévêque, R. Bowman, R.I. & Billeb, S.L.. (1966) Migrants in the Galapagos area. Condor 68(1): 81-101.
  • Meyer De Schauensee, R.M. (1966) The Species of Birds of South America and their Distribution. Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. Pennsylvania.
  • Wiedenfeld, D.A. (2006) Aves, the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador. Check List 2006 2(2): 1-27.
  • Wiedenfeld, D.A. (2006) Aves, The Galapagos Islands, Ecuador Check List 2(2): 1-27

You are welcome to download and use the information found in this page, acknowledging its source.

This page should be cited as follows:

"Galapagos Species Database, Anas discors", dataZone. Charles Darwin Foundation, https://datazone.darwinfoundation.org/en/checklist/?species=5026. Accessed 31 October 2026.