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Brown Teal & Kiwi for #avianaugust!

carrd / patreon

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#2704 - Anas chlorotis - Pāteke

Also known as the Brown Teal, and formerly believed to be the same species as the flightless ducks of the Auckland and Chatham Islands.

Promptly hunted to near extinction after the arrival of Europeans, and fully protected since 1921. Not that the protection has helped much - fewer than 1000 remain, and some populations have had to be entirely replaced with captive-bred individuals. Hybridisation with the domestic mallard certainly has not helped.

The flightless, nocturnal Campbell Teal (Anas nesiotis) had it even worse - it was believed extinct until 1975, when a tiny population was found on Dent Island. So tiny that a single Norway rat could have finished the job. The entire population was removed to try and preserve it. After removing cats, cattle and sheep from the Campbells, and dropping 120 tonnes of poison bait on the island, captive-bred ducks have been returned to their homeland and are doing quite well.

Active at night, feeding on aquatic invertebrates. Small molluscs such as pipi (Paphies australis) and large wedge shell (Macomona liliana) are eaten whole. Larger cockles such as Austrovenus stutchburyi (New Zealand cockle) are eaten by forcing the rubbery bill between the cockle shells and tearing out the meat with a jackhammer-like motion.

Kiwi Park, Queenstown, Aotearoa New Zealand

#anas #brown teal #Pāteke #Anatidae #endangered species #new zealand bird #Queenstown #Queenstown NZ