Source: Department of Conservation
Perhaps you know your Daffy from your Donald, your Huey from your Louie and Dewey, but do you really know your ducks?
Communications and Media Advisor Krysia Nowak takes a duck-dive into the shallows for a quick wade around the ducks of Aotearoa. Missed the first episode? Catch up here – Ducktales episode 1: Quacking the case on mallards and grey ducks.
Before we get started, let me address the truly confusing fact that teal is both a colour and a bird. It seems the bird came first, and the colour is based on that Eurasian bird. My question is: if we continue our groundbreaking naming of teals in New Zealand (brown teal, grey teal), what happens if we find a teal-coloured teal? Moving on…
Pāteke/Brown teal
Honestly, ornithologists (bird-nerds) are pretty uncreative with their names. Brown teal indeed. Pāteke are ADORABLE. I think it’s the wee white ring around their eye. Oh, and may I introduce the ducklings?
Like the mallards in Episode 1, these are dabblers (it’s a popular pastime); pāteke have seriously low numbers but are listed as at risk-recovering, thanks to some excellent conservation efforts. In places where they don’t have specific conservation efforts, they’re still vulnerable to habitat loss and predation.
Up close they are unmistakeable, but from a distance pāteke may appear similar to other ducks. Look out for a duck smaller than a mallard flying low and fast over water, most commonly around the northern half of the North Island.
The case of pāteke v mallard on Aotea Great Barrier Island
In a troubling turn of events, the pāteke population on Aotea is under threat from the insurgent mallard population. Prosecutors claim introduced mallards are outbreeding the endemic pāteke, with the injury centred on humans artificially increasing mallard success by feeding them. The judge has not ordered any recompense, but humans are reminded to avoid feeding any wild bird and continue to be ‘decent to ducks’ (more below).
Tētē/grey teal
Aussie cousins of our teals, grey teal are now considered native and aren’t threatened. Grey teal are nomadic dabblers with one stand-out feature – brilliant red eyes. Despite their alarming gaze, experts assure me they are not vampires, but feed on insects, molluscs and seeds. I’m still not inviting one in at nighttime.
Easily confused with the occasional visitor the chestnut teal.
WAY down South
Two endemic teals live on our subantarctic islands, and both are flightless so don’t expect to be seeing them in your backyard anytime soon (or anywhere else in the world). Auckland Island and Campbell Island teals are each similar in appearance to their mainland cousin the pāteke. Your best bet for identification is location – see a brown-looking teal? Check what island you are on, and you probably have your answer! Campbell Island teal are among the world’s rarest ducks, fortunately now increasing thanks to rat eradication on their home ground.
See you soon for the final episode of Ducktales!
Be decent to ducks
Be a responsible cat owner, by:
- Desexing and microchipping your cat
- Keeping your cat indoors or contained inside a ‘catio’, especially at night
- Putting your cat in a cattery when you go on holiday
- Never taking them onto public conservation land.
Be a responsible dog owner
Please don’t feed ducks, feeding wild birds can:
- Make them sick or make them starve because they are eating the wrong things
- Make them gather in higher than usual numbers, spreading disease (we’re especially wary of this with H5N1 avian influenza spreading overseas)
- Increase their numbers at a cost to other species (e.g. mallards outcompeting pāteke on Aotea/Great Barrier Island)
- Increase risks to human health by increasing the concentration of bird faecal matter
Trap introduced predators at home or in your community
