 Breeding evidence |
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Click on plot to view table of mean abundance
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Number of squares
Long-term BBS trends
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Mean abundance (number of birds detected per 5 min. point count) and percentage of squares occupied by region Bird Conservation Regions [abund. plot]
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Atlas Results
The stronghold of the Cinnamon Teal is decidedly in the southwestern corner of the province in the Mixed Grassland ecoregion. Scattered observations were made north and east through to the Aspen Parkland, and in early May of 2020 a pair was observed over several days near Prince Albert. Although several pairs were documented, lone hens are easily mistaken for Blue-winged Teal and unsurprisingly only one Cinnamon Teal hen was observed with young by an experienced observer on the Dixon Pasture in 2017.
Note: During all years of the Saskatchewan Breeding Bird Atlas drought conditions persisted and the Atlas range maps for all waterfowl, waterbirds, and wetland-associated species should be viewed as characteristic of distribution and abundance during dry conditions. Read the full drought statement here.
Excerpts Adapted from the Birds of Saskatchewan:
Only the jaded can tire of seeing a bright chestnut male Cinnamon Teal, whether in solitary splendour, with a female, or fending off one or more Blue-winged Teal for the attention of the female. Many breed in the marshes bordering Great Salt Lake in Utah, while others breed north to southern British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan, and south to the highlands of Mexico. Our northern subspecies winters from the southern US to northern South America (AOU 1998).
Cinnamon Teal have similar habitat requirements to Blue-wing Teal, frequenting the shallow waters of sloughs, marshes, and flooded ditches.
Numerous sightings of males with females, presumably of the same species, suggest that it is an uncommon and local summer resident north to the edge of the southern boreal forest (Smith 1996). Much less numerous in the past, J. Dewey Soper, a veteran observer who travelled extensively in Saskatchewan between 1914 and 1947, saw only a single bird (Soper 1970). Although the Cypress Hills region is at the heart of the Cinnamon Teal's provincial range, it has been recorded north to Onion Lake 24 May 2001 (Don Weidl), Thomson Island near Nipawin 5 Jun 1980 (SBDB), and Leaf Lake 12-16 May 1980 (Bowman et al. 1980).
Original text by Alan R. Smith. Text adapted by Daniel J. Sawatzky
Read more about the Cinnamon Teal in the Birds of Saskatchewan here.
Recommended citation: Latremouille, L. M. 2025. Cinnamon Teal in Latremouille, L. M., S. L. Van Wilgenburg, C. B. Jardine, D. Lepage, A. R. Couturier, D. Evans, D. Iles, and K. L. Drake (eds.). 2025. The Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Saskatchewan, 2017-2021. Birds Canada. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan https://sk.birdatlas.ca/accounts/speciesaccount.jsp?sp=CITE&lang=en [14 Nov 2025]
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