Aythya novaeseelandiae (Pāpango)
Pāpango or Scaup are gregarious diving ducks common throughout New Zealand. Compact and blackish, they have the silhouette of a bath-toy duck.
Interesting Pāpango Fact!
Pāpango are quite unlike any other resident duck species. Dark and squat with a rounded profile, they often occur in large flocks, floating with cork-like buoyancy!
Habitat and Distribution:
Widely but patchily distributed throughout the North and South Islands. Pāpango often congregate in sheltered areas near willows or reed beds, moving as wind conditions change; although they have favoured locations. They are considered non-migratory despite being capable fliers. Their numbers can fluctuate greatly on otherwise preferred lakes, suggesting at least some localised seasonal movements. Movement is also driven by ice conditions during winter.
Characteristics:
Pāpango are diving ducks and spend a lot of time underwater, where they can travel considerable distances. Both sexes are dark-plumaged, but are easily distinguished. The male has dark black-brown plumage with iridescent blue-green head and wings, and lighter mottling on the chest and underparts. His iris is yellow and bill blue-grey. The female is a duller chocolate brown, paler on her underparts. Her iris is brown and bill grey, normally with a ring of white feathers at the base.
Voice:
Males have a high pitched whistle call weeee weo-weo weo-weo weo-weoooo. The female call is a low quiet wack wack.
Food:
Pāpango obtain most of their food by diving. Prey items include snails, chironomid larvae and caddisfly larvae. Plant material is probably taken also.
Breeding:
The nest is well concealed on the ground close to the water. Nests may be partially open above, or covered, or have a tunnel leading to a concealed chamber. The nest is a tidy bowl consisting of the surrounding materials, and lined with a layer of down. Breeding mainly occurs between October and March. They nest solitary or in a loose colony. Only females incubate and care for young, but solitary males, or groups of males are often reported close to breeding sites. Chicks often form crèches.
Conservation Links:
Whio Forever
Kea Conservation Trust
NZ Brown Teal Online
Department of Conservation
Greater Wellington Regional Council
IUCN Redlist of Threatened Species
