Unlimited edition. 18 x 24 inch, museum-quality poster on matte paper.

Shortly before dawn, they streak by me in the marsh, a sudden rush of sound. By the time I see the birds, the flock of green-winged teal is a grey streak banking away from me in the twilight. Environmental lawyer and naturalist Jim Blackburn describes North America’s smallest dabbling duck species as “the natural system’s counterpoint to the Blue Angels.” “Such a beautiful wisp is the green-winged teal,” he writes, “all air and sound and speed.” Beautiful, indeed! A head of rust and viridian with a sleek greyish vest and iridescent emerald bling. Yet, as you’ll see looking at this color column, describing the aerial speedster as grey isn’t quite right; that impression is given by a fine patterning of white and black on many of the duck’s feathers.

This Field Guide color column depicts a male green-winged teal of the American race, specifically Anas crecca carolinensis, the subspecies you encounter in North America. My classification choice here will be deemed controversial by some fellow bird nerds; many biologists consider the American and European green-winged teal races to be two distinct species, Anas carolinensis, the green-winged teal, and A. crecca, the Eurasian teal. What can I say? I’m a “lumper”!

Note: These archival poster prints feature rich, appealing colors. I encourage customers to take care in handling them until they are framed/protected for display; the darker colors on the matte paper can be scratched. They ship rolled, so customers need to flatten them before framing (or have their framer do so).

Charitable Sales Model: Whenever one of these poster prints is purchased, a charitable contribution equal to 10% of the print’s cost (or $3.60) is made to a nonprofit working to tackle environmental or social challenges. Read more about my charitable sales model here.