Brown Teal Breeding

The main breeding season for wild Brown Teal is from July to November, but in certain circumstances, that is, if the conditions are suitable, Brown Teal have been known to breed in every month of the year; a truly unique phenomenon.

The eggs of Brown Teal are cream-tan in colour and for a bird weighing only 500g a Brown Teal egg is by far the largest of all teal eggs, equivalent to a massive eleven percent of the female’s weight and measuring a unique teal sized egg of 58 x 43mm. The clutch size rarely exceeds five to six eggs and the incubation period is 27-30 days. Juveniles fledge at 55 days.

In the wild two clutches in a breeding season have been regularly recorded from one pair of teal and this is undoubtedly one of the reasons for moult irregularities. There is also considerable inconsistency with the moulting period for both wild and captive Brown Teal; many pairs will moult immediately after rearing a brood, but others are much slower.