Pateke - brown teal - Anas chlorotis

            A pair of pateke, lakeside, Zealandia.
Family: Anatidae (Dabbling ducks) 
Status: endangered endemic
Brown teal is one of three closely related species of teal in New Zealand. The other two being the flightless subantarctic Auckland teal and Campbell Island teal.
Once common throughout New Zealand, habitat destruction, especially swamp drainage and predation, have resulted in brown teal becoming one of our most nationally endangered species of waterfowl. Approximately 1300 birds were surviving nationwide in 1999making it one of the rarest ducks in the world!
Most birds are to be found on Great Barrier Island. There are a few brown teal on Kapiti, Mana, and Tiritiri Matangi Islands, the eastern side of Northland and a new population has recently been established in the Coromandel area. Brown teal are regularly present at the Waikanae Estuary, probably part of the Kapiti Island population.
In the South Island, a few birds survive in Fiordland.
Recognition: About half the size of the common mallard duck, brown teal stand 48cm tall and weigh just over half a kilo as an adult. The male is slightly larger than the female. Brown teal have a warm brown plumage, with dark-brown mottling on the breast. Breeding males have a glossy green head, a narrow white collar, broad green and narrow white bands on the wings and a white flank patch. A distinctive feature of all brown teal is their blue-black bill and the narrow white ring around the eye. Their eyes are brown. Males give a soft whistle, and the female a low quack and growl.
Brown teal are often referred to as bush ducks, since they prefer stream and bushland habitats. They are reluctant flyers and are shallow divers, dabbling just below the surface for food. Their favourite food is invertebrates and they mainly feed in the evening or at night.
Breeding: Most brown teal breed from June to October but are able to breed at almost any time of the year.
They begin breeding at about 2 years of age and can lay clutches of up to 8 eggs. • Brown teal build a bowl-shaped nest near water, under the cover of dense tussocks or ferns, constructed with grasses lined with down. The female incubates the eggs about 30 days while the drake guards the nest - they are strongly territorial during breeding. Chicks fledge at an age of about 2 months. Brown teal pairs generally have stable relationships. The oldest known teal in the wild lived over 6 years.
Brown teal at Karori Sanctuary. 18 brown teal were initially released in 2000 and 2001. Breeding started from late 2002 and good productivity has resulted in increased competition for preferred wetland habitats and, because these habitats are limited in the Sanctuary, losses have occurred as a result.
Supplementary feeding of maize has been largely discontinued since early 2006 to reduce productivity and competition for territories.
Genetic analysis of the population in 2006-2007 should clarify whether or not there has been a loss of genetic diversity and whether additional birds need to be released into the population in future.
Active monitoring over the breeding season has ceased due to the fact that the population is self-sustaining.
Brown teal are readily seen on the lower and upper lakes. Being forest dwellers as well as water dwellers, some are being regularly seen at the kaka feeders below the upper dam at dusk and also at the southern end of the Faultline Track. The brown teal’s omnivorous diet, restricted annual range and mainly terrestrial lifestyle give it a unique ecological niche among waterfowl, somewhat akin to a wetland rodent, and it serves as a classic example of the influence of selective forces that operated on birds in pre-human New Zealand.
   

Taken in: New Zealand / Wellington / Wellington / Highbury (show map)

Taken on: January 7, 2012

Tags:

duck

teal

pateke

Anas

Anas chlorotis

bird

Zealandia

nature

wildlife

Karori Sanctuary

Wellington

New Zealand

Canon « less

Sets appears in: • Pateke - Brown Teal - Anas chlorotis • Zealandia - Karori sanctuary more » • Native Birds of New Zealand « less

Camera: Canon EOS 400D, 1/250 sec, 340mm, ISO 800 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Canon EOS 400D
Exposure Time:	0.004 sec (1/250)
Focal Length:	340mm
ISO:	800
Exposure Bias:	+2/3 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Program AE
Metering Mode:	Average
Color Space:	Uncalibrated
Software:	QuickTime 7.6.6
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