Blue-billed teal
Spatula hottentota (Eyton, 1838)
The blue-billed teal (Spatula hottentota) is a species in the family Anatidae, order Anseriformes. Recorded adults weigh 240 g to 276.4 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
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Quick facts about the blue-billed teal
- Weight
- 240 g – 276.4 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Omnivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- wetlandsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 22 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 7.1src for Young per litter or clutch
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1src for Litters or clutches a year
- Lifestyle
- Generalistsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Sedentarysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the blue-billed teal live?
Not recorded
What is the blue-billed teal?
The blue-billed teal (Spatula hottentota), also sometimes called spotted teal and formerly Hottentot teal, is a species of dabbling duck of the genus Spatula. It is resident in eastern, southern, and western Africa, from Sudan and Ethiopia west to Niger and Nigeria, and south to South Africa and Namibia, and also in Madagascar. It is generally sedentary, but shows nomadic behaviour in response to water requirements, moving away if drought causes wetlands to dry out.
The blue-billed teal breeds year round, depending on rainfall, and stays in small groups or pairs. They build nests above water in tree stumps and use vegetation. Ducklings leave the nest soon after hatching, and the mother's parenting is limited to providing protection from predators and leading young to feeding areas. This species is omnivorous and prefers smaller shallow bodies of water.
The blue-billed teal is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies. The status of the blue-billed teal on the IUCN Red List is Least Concern.
Several texts still refer to this species as the Hottentot teal, however, as the word "Hottentot" is an offensive term for the Khoisan people, there has been a movement to change the vernacular name.
From the Wikipedia article “Blue-billed teal” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Blue-billed_teal&oldid=1380602276), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the blue-billed teal endangered?
The blue-billed teal is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species. What the categories mean.
How is the blue-billed teal classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderAnseriformes
- familyAnatidae
- genusSpatula
- SpeciesSpatula hottentota (Eyton, 1838)
Synonyms Anas hottentota, Anas punctata, Anas punctata delacouri, Punanetta hottentota, Querquedula hottentota
Other names and names in other languages (56)
- African tealEnglish
- BBTEEnglish
- Diamond tealEnglish
- Hottentot tealEnglish
- Little tealEnglish
- Spotted tealEnglish
- Swamp tealEnglish
- Yellow-cheeked tealEnglish
- Gevlekte EendAfrikaans
- بط هوتنتوتArabic
- حذف هوتنتوتArabic
- xarxet hotentotCatalan
- čírka tečkovanáCzech
- Círka diamantováCzech
- čírka hottentotskáCzech
- Corhwyaden fannogWelsh
- HottentotandDanish
- Blånæbbet AndDanish
- PünktchenenteGerman
- HottentottenenteGerman
- hotentota anasoEsperanto
- Pato hotentoteSpanish
- Cerceta hotentoteSpanish
- väike-üllpartEstonian
- خوتکای هوتنتوتPersian
- pikkutaviFinnish
- AfrikantaviFinnish
- Canard à bec bleuFrench
- Sarcelle hottentoteFrench
- hotentotska patkaCroatian
- hottentotta réceHungarian
- DeplaöndIcelandic
- Alzavola ottentottaItalian
- アフリカコガモJapanese
- ლაქებიანი იხვინჯაGeorgian
- dėmėtoji kryklėLithuanian
- KazazakaMalagasy
- KizazakaMalagasy
- Gouden TalingDutch
- HottentottalingDutch
- sumpandNorwegian
- cyraneczka afrykańskaPolish
- srebrzanka hotentockaPolish
- Marreco-hotentotePortuguese
- marreco-de-bico-azulPortuguese
- marrequinha-de-bico-azulPortuguese
- Пятнистый чирокRussian
- kačica bodkovanáSlovak
- hotentotski kreheljcSlovenian
- Afrička krdžaSerbian
- Bata Domo-buluuSwahili
- Nübye ÖrdeğiTurkish
- чирянка жовтощокаUkrainian
- 南非鴨Chinese
- 南非鸭Chinese
- iDadaZulu
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataIUCN Red List
Relatives of the blue-billed teal
Other species in the same genus Spatula.
Northern shoveler
Spatula clypeata
Garganey
Spatula querquedula
Blue-winged teal
Spatula discors
Cinnamon teal
Spatula cyanoptera
Red shoveler
Spatula platalea
Australasian shoveler
Spatula rhynchotis
CompareBlue-billed teal vs Northern shovelerBlue-billed teal vs GarganeyBlue-billed teal vs Blue-winged tealBlue-billed teal vs Cinnamon teal
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the blue-billed teal?
An adult blue-billed teal weighs 240 g – 276.4 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the blue-billed teal endangered?
The blue-billed teal is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.
What kind of animal is the blue-billed teal?
The blue-billed teal (Spatula hottentota) belongs to the family Anatidae in the order Anseriformes.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Blue-billed teal (Spatula hottentota). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/blue-billed-teal
“Blue-billed teal (Spatula hottentota).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/blue-billed-teal.
@misc{blue_billed_teal_2026,
title = {Blue-billed teal (Spatula hottentota)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/blue-billed-teal},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}