appears to be closely correlated with the 
distribution of populations. The greatest local 
kill (25% of the total) was in southern Dor- 
chester County, southwestern Wicomico 
County, and northwestern Somerset County, 
in the area extending eastward from lower 
Honga River and Bloodsworth Island through 
Elliott marsh, Ellis Bay marsh, and Dames 
Quarter marsh. Kill data arranged by months 
showed that about 70% of the kill was in 
November and 30% in December. 
BLUE-WINGED TEAL 
Anas discors Linnaeus 
Blue-winged Teal are fairly common local 
summer residents in the Upper Chesapeake 
region. They are more widely distributed and 
common during spring and fall migration. 
They are local, and uncommon or rare, winter 
residents. The breeding season generally is 
from mid-April to early August, with the peak 
between early May and late June. Extreme 
egg dates (11 nests) ranged from April 25 
(nest with 5 eggs) to June 16. Extreme dates 
for downy young (25 broods) ranged from May 
25 to August 4. The fall migration usually 
is during the period of August 20-30 to Novem- 
ber 10-20, with the peak between September 5 
and October 15. The normal spring migration 
extends from March 10-20 to May 10-20, 
with the peak between April 5 and May5. 
The occurrence of breeding populations of 
Blue-winged Teal in the Upper Chesapeake 
region was not generally known until 1931, 
when Austin (1932) observed many breeding 
pairs, as well as eggs and young, in the 
Dorchester County marshes. 
Blue-winged Teal breeding in the tidewater 
areas along the Atlantic seaboard have been 
recently described as a distinct race, Anas 
discors orphna (Stewart and Aldrich, 1956), The 
breeding range extends from New Brunswick, 
Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island to 
northeastern North Carolina. Careful com- 
parative examination of one winter specimen 
in the U. S. National Museum and rough field 
examinations of severalfreshly shot wintering 
birds (all from Dorchester County) indicated 
that most wintering birds in the Upper Chesa- 
peake region also were of the Atlantic coastal 
race, Detailed examination of numerous mu- 
seum specimens taken during the migratory 
season indicated that the migrant populations 
of the Upper Chesapeake region are chiefly 
of the interior race, Anas discors discors Linnaeus. 
Habitats 
Wintering Blue-winged Teal prefer the 
brackish estuarine bay marshes of the Black- 
water-Nanticoke section. Ecological prefer- 
ences of transients during spring and fall are 
43 
similar to those of Green-winged Teal. Both 
species characteristically inhabit tidal creeks 
and ponds of estuarine bay marshes and 
estuarine river marshes; they show some 
preference for brackish estuarine bay marshes 
and for fresh or slightly brackish portions 
of estuarine river marshes. Large numbers 
_often occur in the embayed salt marshes and 
adjoining impoundments of the Coastal section. 
Scattered flocks or individuals occasionally 
occur along the margins of the open-water 
estuaries and on interior impoundments. 
During the breeding season, the greatest 
numbers are in the brackish estuarine bay 
marshes of the Blackwater-Nanticoke section. 
Smaller numbers are in the salt estuarine 
bay marshes of the Lower Eastern Shore 
section, and a few pairs inhabit the embayed 
salt marshes of the Coastal section. Breeding 
populations are somewhat localized, being 
restricted mainly to areas that contain fairly 
extensive salt meadows in combination with 
adjoining tidal ponds or creeks. A nearly 
pure stand of saltmeadow cordgrass charac- 
terized many of the salt meadows. The vege- 
tation in other meadows was composed of a 
mixture of saltmeadow cordgrass with salt- 
grass or saltmarsh cordgrass or both. The 
mixed stands of vegetation that are especially 
prevalent in the brackish estuarine bay 
marshes usually had most birds. An intensive 
study of breeding waterfowl populations was 
made in the Blackwater-Nanticoke section in 
1956. Part of the study was madeona 160-acre 
tract of brackish estuarine bay marsh that 
contained extensive areas of salt meadow and 
numerous tidal ponds and creeks. A total of 
ten breeding pairs of Blue-winged Teal occu- 
pied this study tract, a density of one pair 
per 16 acres. 
Six Blue-winged Teal nests were found 
during recent years, Five were in brackish 
estuarine bay marshes of Dorchester County, 
and one was in a salt estuarine bay marsh in 
Somerset County. The principal plant in these 
marshes was saltmeadow cordgrass, with or 
without admixtures of saltmarsh cordgrass, 
saltgrass, and Olney three-square. 
Biogeographic Sections 
The small wintering populations of Blue- 
winged Teal in the Upper Chesapeake region 
usually are restricted alrnost entirely to the 
Blackwater-Nanticoke section. Highest 1-day 
boat counts were 80 on the Blackwater Na- 
tional Wildlife Refuge on February 22, 1952, and 
39 in southern Dorchester County on December 
28, 1953. 
During the spring andfall migration periods, 
the greatest numbers are in the extensive 
marshes of the Blackwater-Nanticoke section. 
At times, fairly large numbers may be in the 
marshes of the Lower Eastern Shore and 
Coastal sections. Local concentrations of birds 
