Description:

Slightly larger than Common Teal, and smaller-billed than Garganey, with grey forewing and broad white trailing edge to wing in flight. Male has striking head pattern of black, yellow, bottle-green and white; also black-spotted pinkish breast, black undertail-coverts and chestnut-edged scapulars. Female superficially resembles female Common Teal.

Distribution:

Vagrant during passage through major waterways and lakes all across Gilgit-Baltistan. Landing in the region during cloudy/harsh weather, at lakes, marshes, rivers and streams with fringe vegetation up to 3500m, avoiding turbulent waters.

Behavior:

Feeds by dabbling from water surface, head dipping and upending; also on foot, looking for acorns in woods and even for grain and seeds on roads at night. Extremely active while foraging. Diet seeds, leaves, stems and other vegetative parts of grasses, sedges, aquatic plants and crops; also aquatic invertebrates (molluscs, insects).

Photo Gallery:

Range & Occurrence:

Resident Species

Summer Breeder

Winter Visitor

Passage Migrant

Distribution Map of Baikal Teal in Gilgit-Baltistan (Status: )

Seasonal Occurrence of Baikal Teal

Resources:

Birds of Pakistan: Helm Field Guides (R. Grimmett & T. Inskipp)
The Birds of Pakistan (T. J. Roberts)
Birds of the Indian Subcontinent (C. Inskipp, R. Grimmett & T. Inskipp)
Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide (P. Rasmussen & J. Anderton)
Birds of India: Collins Field Guide (N. Arlott)
Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan (S. Ali & S. D. Ripley)
Handbook of the Birds of the World (https://www.hbw.com)
The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World, 6th Edition
iNaturalist BoGB (inaturalist.org/projects/birds-of-gilgit-baltistan)
Birds of Gilgit-Baltistan (http://fb.me/birdsgb)

*Gallery images on this page are shared from flickr.com, and are copyrighted to their respective creators or owners.