{"id":174483,"date":"2026-04-12T06:52:28","date_gmt":"2026-04-12T11:52:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=174483"},"modified":"2026-04-12T06:52:28","modified_gmt":"2026-04-12T11:52:28","slug":"blue-winged-teal-pair-lifting-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2026\/04\/12\/blue-winged-teal-pair-lifting-off\/","title":{"rendered":"Blue-winged Teal Pair Lifting Off"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Blue-wingedBlue-winged Teal pair lifting off from Miner’s Cove \u2013 Canon R7, handheld, f8, 1\/1250, ISO 640, -0.7 EV, Canon RF 100-500mm at 500mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Last week while sitting at Miner’s Cove at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge in my vehicle, I focused on a pair of Blue-winged Teal and caught the two of them lifting off from the water. The teal had been feeding but something flushed them.<\/p>\n

Blue-winged Teal feed by dabbling at the surface, submerging their heads, or tipping their bottoms up to reach food deeper in the water.<\/p>\n

In Utah, I didn’t see this teal species often; here I see them all the time. I think they are stunning dabbling ducks, though they can be quite skittish at the refuge.<\/p>\n

Blue-winged Teal do nest in Oklahoma, even though they\u2019re mostly thought of as migrants passing through. Their main breeding range is up on the northern prairies, but in wet springs they\u2019ll stay and raise young here too.<\/p>\n

There are occasional nesting records, especially in the northern part of the state, showing they\u2019re one of the few duck species that will breed in Oklahoma.<\/p>\n

Mallards and Wood Ducks definitely nest at the refuge and I am hoping to obtain more Wood Duck photos this breeding season. I know some the Wood Ducks are already incubating eggs.<\/p>\n

I’d love to have both Wood Duck and Blue-winged Teal<\/span><\/a> ducklings in my viewfinder this spring or summer!<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Blue-winged Teal photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last week while sitting at Miner’s Cove at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge in my vehicle, I focused on a pair of Blue-winged Teal and caught the two of them lifting off from the water.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":174480,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,7107,13973,13974],"tags":[4004,7201,4717,4483,1129,126,4070,4052,4359,4282,4944,4062,14047,13976,7108,165,3792,5428,7094,4920],"class_list":["post-174483","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-blue-winged-teals","category-oklahoma","category-sequoyah-national-wildlife-refuge","tag-adult","tag-blue-winged-teal","tag-dabbling-ducks","tag-drake","tag-duck","tag-ducks-2","tag-female","tag-flight","tag-hen","tag-lift-off","tag-lifting-off","tag-male","tag-miners-cove","tag-slough","tag-spatula-discors","tag-spring","tag-take-off","tag-taking-off","tag-teal","tag-teals"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/blue-winged-teal-mates-lifting-off-mia-mcpherson-3198.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-Jof","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":172886,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2026\/03\/24\/pair-of-blue-winged-teal-on-a-log\/","url_meta":{"origin":174483,"position":0},"title":"Pair Of Blue-winged Teal On A Log","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 24, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"On my most recent trip to Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, I photographed a pair of Blue-winged Teal on a log in Miner's Cove in soft morning light.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Pair of Blue-winged Teal on a log in early morning light, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/blue-winged-teal-pair-sequoyah-NWR-mia-mcpherson-1157.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/blue-winged-teal-pair-sequoyah-NWR-mia-mcpherson-1157.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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drake close up, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/blue-winged-teal-drake-spring-mia-mcpherson-4192.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/blue-winged-teal-drake-spring-mia-mcpherson-4192.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/blue-winged-teal-drake-spring-mia-mcpherson-4192.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/blue-winged-teal-drake-spring-mia-mcpherson-4192.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":75405,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/11\/18\/drake-green-winged-teal-at-bear-river-mbr\/","url_meta":{"origin":174483,"position":2},"title":"Drake Green-winged Teal At Bear River MBR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 18, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday morning I was able to take close up photos of a drake Green-winged Teal paddling away from me at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Drake Green-winged Teal paddling by, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/green-winged-teal-drake-marsh-mia-mcpherson-4700.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/green-winged-teal-drake-marsh-mia-mcpherson-4700.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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Out of 49 people taking the quiz there were 6 votes for Mallard, 8 votes for Blue-winged Teal, 9 votes for Gadwall and 26 votes for Green-winged Teal.","rel":"","context":"In "Bird ID"","block_context":{"text":"Bird ID","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/bird-identification\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Green-winged Teal drake, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/green-winged-teal-drake-mia-mcpherson-8587.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/green-winged-teal-drake-mia-mcpherson-8587.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/green-winged-teal-drake-mia-mcpherson-8587.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/green-winged-teal-drake-mia-mcpherson-8587.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":101436,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/04\/07\/cinnamon-teal-hen-lift-off-images\/","url_meta":{"origin":174483,"position":4},"title":"Cinnamon Teal Hen Lift Off Images","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 7, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I felt delighted to be able to take a series of this Cinnamon Teal hen lifting off from the marsh at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge yesterday morning.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Cinnamon Teal hen lifting off from water, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/cinnamon-teal-hen-lift-off-series-mia-mcpherson-2670.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/cinnamon-teal-hen-lift-off-series-mia-mcpherson-2670.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/cinnamon-teal-hen-lift-off-series-mia-mcpherson-2670.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/cinnamon-teal-hen-lift-off-series-mia-mcpherson-2670.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":97768,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/11\/29\/remembering-higher-water-in-the-great-salt-lake\/","url_meta":{"origin":174483,"position":5},"title":"Remembering Higher Water In The Great Salt Lake","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 29, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"I came across this photo of a Green-winged Teal with Northern Shovelers in the surf of the Great Salt Lake that I took in December of 2011 yesterday. It was a punch in the gut.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Green-winged Teal with Northern Shovelers in the surf of the Great Salt Lake, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/green-winged-teal-northern-shoveler-great-salt-lake-mia-mcpherson-3134.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/green-winged-teal-northern-shoveler-great-salt-lake-mia-mcpherson-3134.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/green-winged-teal-northern-shoveler-great-salt-lake-mia-mcpherson-3134.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/green-winged-teal-northern-shoveler-great-salt-lake-mia-mcpherson-3134.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174483","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=174483"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174483\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":174486,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174483\/revisions\/174486"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/174480"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=174483"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=174483"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=174483"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}