Cape Teal
Anas capensis
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
- KingdomAnimalia (Animals)
- PhylumChordata (Chordates)
- ClassAves (Birds)
- OrderAnseriformes (Waterfowl)
- FamilyAnatidae (Ducks, Geese, and Swans)
- GenusAnas (Mallards, Pintails, and Allies)
- SpeciesAnas capensis (Cape Teal)
About the Cape Teal
The Cape teal (Anas capensis) also Cape wigeon or Cape widgeon is a 44–46 cm long dabbling duck of open wetlands in sub-Saharan Africa. The Cape teal was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it with all the ducks, geese and swans in the genus Anas and coined the binomial name Anas capensis. Gmelin based his description on the "Cape widgeon" that had been described in 1785 by the English ornithologist John Latham in his A General Synopsis of Birds. The naturalist Joseph Banks had provided Latham with a water-colour drawing of the teal by Georg Forster who had accompanied James Cook on his second voyage to the Pacific Ocean. His picture was drawn in 1773 at the Cape of Good Hope. This picture is now the holotype for the species and is held by the Natural History Museum in London. The genus name Anas is the Latin word for a duck. The specific epithet capensis indicates the Cape of Good Hope. The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.
Like many southern ducks, the sexes are similar. It is very pale and mainly grey, with a... Wikipedia →
Recent sightings of Cape Teal in Amboseli National Park
LIVEiNaturalistClosest Relatives at Amboseli National Park
Red-billed Teal
Anas erythrorhyncha
Yellow-billed Duck
Anas undulata
Common Teal
Anas crecca
Northern Pintail
Anas acuta
African Black Duck
Anas sparsa
Egyptian Goose
Alopochen aegyptiaca
White-faced Whistling Duck
Dendrocygna viduata
Hottentot Teal
Spatula hottentota
Spur-winged Goose
Plectropterus gambensis
Fulvous Whistling-Duck
Dendrocygna bicolor
Comb Duck
Sarkidiornis melanotos
White-backed Duck
Thalassornis leuconotus
Global Distribution
Warmer areas are where this animal is recorded most often.
Parks Where Found
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arusha National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 2 | Lake Nakuru National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 3 | Ngorongoro Conservation Area | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 4 | Namib-Naukluft National Park | 🇳🇦 Namibia | |
| 5 | Etosha National Park | 🇳🇦 Namibia | |
| 6 | Amboseli National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 7 | Garden Route National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 8 | Serengeti National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 9 | Addo Elephant National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 10 | Hwange National Park | 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe | |
| 11 | Table Mountain National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 12 | iSimangaliso Wetland Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 13 | Moremi Game Reserve | 🇧🇼 Botswana | |
| 14 | Chobe National Park | 🇧🇼 Botswana | |
| 15 | Tarangire National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 16 | Lake Manyara National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 17 | Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 18 | Selous Game Reserve | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 19 | Nairobi National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 20 | Kruger National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
Quick answers
What are the chances of seeing a Cape Teal in Amboseli National Park?
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Cape Teal sighting in Amboseli National Park, based on 231 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data.
When is the best time to see Cape Teal in Amboseli National Park?
March has the highest sighting rate for Cape Teal in Amboseli National Park in our monthly data.