Blue-winged Teal (a species of duck) migrate between their wintering grounds in Central America to their breeding grounds in the Dakotas, Alberta, and Manitoba. During their migration north, brightly colored males conduct courtship displays for the more mottle-colored females. Displays include males pumping their head up and down and dipping their head under water rapidly and females select males based on these displays. Breeding pairs are formed and the pairs complete their migration together. When reaching the breeding grounds, the pairs build nests alongside small prairie wetlands. Female Blue-winged Teal lay approximately 8-12 eggs in the nest and incubate them for 24 days. The male mates with a single female and stays with her to provide protection while she incubates the eggs but departs a few days before the eggs hatch. Female teal raise the young, often shuttling them between small wetlands in the area, while males congregate at large wetlands where they molt (and become flightless) and prepare for the migration south.
