White-headed Duck vs Blue-billed Teal
Oxyura leucocephala compared with Spatula hottentota
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Attribute | White-headed Duck | Blue-billed Teal |
|---|---|---|
| Scientific Name | Oxyura leucocephala | Spatula hottentota |
| Order | Anseriformes | Anseriformes |
| Family | Anatidae | Anatidae |
| Conservation Status | Endangered | Least Concern |
| Length | — | — |
| Wingspan | 29.7 cm (11.7 in) | 29.4 cm (11.6 in) |
| Weight | 705.0 g (24.87 oz) | 269.2 g (9.50 oz) |
| Diet | Dives for aquatic invertebrates, seeds, and plant roots in Mediterranean and Central Asian wetlands. Critically … | Feeds on seeds, aquatic plants, and invertebrates; filter-feeds in shallow water; broadly omnivorous and seasonally … |
| Clutch Size | 3-10 | 5-12 |
| Population Trend | — | — |
Habitat Comparison
Blue-billed Teal
Freshwater lakes, marshes, pans, and flooded grasslands across sub-Saharan Africa from Senegal and Sudan south to the Cape. Nomadic; follows seasonal rains. Common but easily overlooked among reed beds.
Song & Call Comparison
White-headed Duck
Male produces a mechanical, rapid bill-drumming; female gives a harsh, grating quack. The drumming staccato display is the same pattern as other Oxyura stiff-tails; heard on Eurasian steppe lakes.
Blue-billed Teal
Male utters a soft, teal-like peep; female gives a muted quack. Pairs call quietly in dense papyrus; soft contact calls help birds maintain proximity in thick African marsh vegetation.
Geographic Range & Migration
White-headed Duck
Breeds in Spain, Turkey, central Asia, and Mongolia. Winters in the Mediterranean, the Middle East, and northern India. Globally endangered.
Blue-billed Teal
Breeds in Arctic and subarctic Eurasia; winters at sea in the North Atlantic and from western Europe to eastern Africa.
Conservation Status
White-headed Duck
Blue-billed Teal
How to Tell Them Apart
White-headed Duck
Male has entirely white head with small black crown patch, rich chestnut-brown body, and large bulbous powder-blue bill. Female is brown with pale whitish face divided by dark streak across …
Blue-billed Teal
Small; males have pale blue-gray bill contrasting with brown-gray body. Head finely spotted; underparts barred brown and white. Males show powder-blue forewing in flight. Females browner. African marsh species.
About These Birds
White-headed Duck
A stiff-tailed duck (~705 g) of family Anatidae, males with a distinctive white head and swollen blue bill. Breeds on brackish and freshwater lakes in Spain and Central Asia; winters in Mediterranean and Central Asian wetlands. Dives for aquatic vegetation and invertebrates. Endangered due to hunting, hybridization with introduced Ruddy Duck, and wetland loss.
Blue-billed Teal
A small dark teal with blue-grey bill and legs, brown-streaked plumage, and fine pale spotting on the flanks. The most widespread teal in sub-Saharan Africa. Found on freshwater lakes and marshes. Highly nomadic; follows seasonal rainfall. Swims low in the water like a pochard.