Editing Grey teal (section)

== Description ==
It can be identified due to the presence of a crimson coloured iris in its eyes.<ref name="Wilderness Magazine">{{cite web | last=Winter | first=Matthew | title=Grey teal | website=Wilderness Magazine | date=2018-08-19 | url=https://www.wildernessmag.co.nz/grey-teal/}}</ref> This crimson colour is relatively more prominent in adult males.<ref name="Handbook" >{{cite book |last1=Marchant|first1= S. |last2= Higgins|first2= P. |year=1990 |title=Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds |volume=1, Ratites to ducks; Part B Australian pelican to ducks |pages=1252–1281 |location=Melbourne |publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref> It is a mottled brown [[duck]] with white and green flashes on its wings. Males and females share the same colouration, in contrast to the related [[Chestnut Teal|chestnut teal]], whose male and female are strikingly different. The grey teal has almost identical colouration to the female chestnut teal and the grey can only be distinguished by its lighter coloured neck and paler face. Juveniles are paler than adults, especially on the head. However, they can be identified by a dull brown eye until matured.<ref name="Ducks, geese, and swans">{{cite book |last=Kear |first= J. |year=2005 |title=Ducks, geese, and swans |volume=2: Species accounts (Cairina to Mergus) |pages=569–572 |location=Oxford|publisher= Oxford University Press}}</ref> The [[Beak|bill]] of the grey teal is a blue-grey colour with dark lining around the edges. Feet are a similar colour to that of the bill being grey.<ref name="Ducks, geese, and swans"/> The head of the grey teal can be described as plain/slightly streaked, with a dark crown and cream coloured chin/throat and cheeks.<ref name="Handbook"/>

[[File:Juvenile Grey Teal - Pitt Town Lagoon.jpg|thumb|Juvenile grey teal]]

The eggs of the grey teal are a creamy white colour and are not distinctly speckled.<ref name="Ducks, geese, and swans"/> An average egg is {{Convert|49.3|mm|in|abbr=on}} in length and {{Convert|35.6|mm|in|abbr=on}} in width.<ref name="Handbook"/>
The grey teal nests near its favoured freshwater lakes and marshes, usually on the ground, but also in tree holes or [[rabbit]] burrows.

It is a vocal duck, especially at night. The male gives a soft {{Not a typo|''preep''}}, and the female has a loud quack.

The grey teal is a gregarious species. In Australia it is nomadic, rapidly colonising suitable habitat following rain. In 1957, large numbers fled Australia, moving to New Zealand to escape drought.

Adult grey teal, ''Anas gracilis'', undergo a flightless [[moult]] that is not fixed in the year. Before breeding season mature birds, both male and female, will undergo a body [[moult]] that excludes the wings.<ref name="Handbook"/> Then after breeding season, both partners will undergo a complete body [[moult]] (including wings). According to Janet Kear (2005),<ref name="Ducks, geese, and swans"/> in Australia the moult of this species is correlated with climate conditions. Indeed during prolonged wet season birds postpone wing moult in order to extend the breeding one – probably in order to better exploit [[wetlands]] resources. This postponement could be explained by the fact that ducks try not to [[moult]] and breed at the same time. For some species of birds it is even impossible to do both simultaneously.<ref>{{cite book |last=Newton |first= I. |year=2010 |title=The migration ecology of birds}}</ref> If we have to draw a tendency we could say that body moult (including wings) generally occurs between the months of January to March when it is late summer or early winter.<ref name="Handbook"/> Juveniles will undergo a complete moult of the entire body other than the wings, occurring in the first autumn or early winter.<ref name="Handbook"/>

It was formerly considered a subspecies of the [[Sunda teal]], as ''Anas gibberifrons gracilis''.

Widespread throughout its large range, the grey teal is evaluated as Least Concern on the [[IUCN Red List]] of Threatened Species.<ref name="iucn status 11 November 2021" />