One of the most widespread ducks in the world, it is often domesticated and crossed with other tame duck species. It is usually found in or near water from flooded fields, marshes, and lakes to backyard swimming pools, golf courses, and well-watered lawns in urban areas. The nest, made of vegetation and lined with feathers, is placed near water in cattails or reeds. In urban areas, the nest can be on lawns, at the base of a tree or other semi-protected areas.
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This attractive duck prefers small ponds and lakes with emergent aquatic vegetation where it feeds by tipping up its rear end and stretching its bill down into the water as far as it can. It eats plants, seeds, insects and snails. The nest is a depression in dense low vegetation near water. Other ducks such as Redheads often place their eggs in the nest of the Cinnamon Teal to be raised by the adoptive parents.
Common throughout Africa and Asia, this egret has only recently made its way to the Western Hemisphere. Unusual for egrets, this species spends little time in the water. Instead they are specialized at catching insects and other small animals scared out of hiding by the hooves of large grazing mammals. Evidently arriving on a storm track from West Africa, a small flock made its way to northeastern Brazil across the Atlantic in 1870. From there they spread quickly to the north and south taking advantage of deforestation, agricultural grasslands and fields and large domestic grazing animals.