Cinnamon teal (Spatula cyanopteria) have two separate breeding populations, one in North America and the other in South America. The North American population has resident populations in Central Mexico and along the California Coast. The other North American cinnamon teal winter throughout Mexico and breed west of the Rockies in Continental United States.
This pair of cinnamon teal were photographed in the pond along the road to the Antelope Parking Lot in Ash Creek Wildlife Area (Modoc County CA). The breeding male is easy to identify with his bright cinnamon red head and body. The eclipse (non-breeding) males and females are grey brown overall and, at least for me, more difficult to identify.
Cinnamon teal inhabit freshwater semi-permanent and seasonal bodies of water and wetlands. The nest, built by the female, is a depression on the ground lined with grasses and down. Often the female locates the nest below dead matted vegetation so it is completely concealed. The entrance to this hidden nest, which contains 4 to 16 creamy white eggs, is through a tunnel in the vegetation.
Anas cyanoptera is a synonym for Spatula cyanoptera.
With luck this cinnamon teal pair will raise a brood of chicks this year.