matter consisting of seeds or stems and leaves of sedge, grass, pondweed, smartweed (Polygonum spp.), duckweed (Lemna spp.), Widgeongrass, and muskgrass (Chara spp.). The seeds of plants that grow on mud flats, such as nutgrass (Cyperus spp.), smartweed, millet (Panicum spp.), and Rice Cut-grass (Leersia oryzoides), are avidly consumed by this duck. One-fourth of the food consumed by blue-winged teal is animal matter such as mollusks, crustaceans, and insects. Predators Common predators of blue-winged teal include humans, snakes, snapping turtles (Chlycha serpentina), dogs, cats, muskellunge, American crows (Corvus brachyrhnchos), magpies (Pica spp.), ground squirrels, coyotes (Canis latrans), red foxes (Vulpes fulva), gray foxes (Urocyon cinereoargenteus), raccoons (Procyon lotor), long-tailed weasels (Mustela frenata), American minks (Mustela vison), striped skunks (Mephitis mephitis), spotted skunks (Spilogale putorius), and American badgers (Taxidea taxus). During one study, about half of the nest failures of blue-winged teal were caused by mammals. Striped and Spotted Skunks were responsible for two-thirds of these losses. All nest losses caused by birds were attributed to either crows or magpies. References Further reading External links Blue-winged Teal - Anas discors - USGS Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter Blue-winged Teal Species Account – Cornell Lab of Ornithology Blue-winged Teal Information at eNature.com blue-winged teal Birds of North America Birds of Canada Birds of the United States Birds of Hispaniola Birds of the Dominican Republic Birds of Haiti blue-winged teal Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus