The Baikal teal (Anas formosa) is named after Lake Baikal, an ancient, massive lake in the mountainous Russian region of Siberia, north of the Mongolian border. The Baikal teal, also called the bimaculate duck or squawk duck, is a dabbling duck that breeds in eastern Siberia and winters in East Asia and occasionally in the Indian Subcontinent. The scientific name is from Latin Anas, "duck" and formosa "beautiful". The Baikal teal are found in the rivers, lakes, ponds and marshes close to woodlands where it forages for acorns, grains and seeds at night. Data suggests that it has no close relatives among living ducks and should be placed in a distinct genus; it is possibly closest to such species as the Garganey and the Northern Shoveler.
