New Zealand Scaup/

Black Teal

Aythya novaeseelandiae

New Zealand Scaup New Zealand Scaup - Black Teal Black Teal

Drake (male) New Zealand Scaup, also known as Black Teal, above with yellow eye and greenish-black head. Duck (female) below, has white face patch in breeding plumage.

The commonest of all New Zealand ducks but, like most other ducks in the country, numbers have declined considerably through hunting and habitat loss.

New Zealand Scaup New Zealand Scaup - Black Teal New Zealand Scaup

The female loses her white face patch after the breeding season, one of the few female ducks to change to breeding/non-breeding plumage

Has pale blue line on bill and black tip

 Face patch almost gone

New Zealand Scaup Black Teal New Zealand Scaup

No white face patch

   
Bald as a Coot   New Zealand Scaup
"Bald as a coot", says the young moorhen, giving the thumbs down to its new friend