The Auckland teal (''Anas aucklandica''), also known as Auckland Islands teal or brown teal, is a species of dabbling duck of the genus ''Anas'' that is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

Auckland Islands The Auckland Islands (Māori: ''Motu Maha'' "Many islands" or ''Maungahuka'' "Snowy mountains") are an archipelago of New Zealand, lying south of the South Island. The main Auckland Island, occupying , is surrounded by smaller Adams Island, ...

south of

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. The species was once found throughout the Auckland Islands but is now restricted to the islands that lack introduced predators: Adams Island,

Enderby Island Enderby Island is part of New Zealand's uninhabited Auckland Islands archipelago, south of mainland New Zealand. It is situated just off the northern tip of Auckland Island, the largest island in the archipelago. Geography and geology Enderby ...

Disappointment Island Disappointment Island is one of seven uninhabited islands in the Auckland Islands archipelago, in New Zealand. It is south of the country's main South Island and from the northwest end of Auckland Island. It is home to a large colony of white ...

and a few smaller islands. An old report of "the same flightless duck" on North East Island,

The Snares The Snares Islands / Tini Heke, known colloquially as The Snares, is a group of uninhabited islands lying about 200 km south of New Zealand's South Island and to the south-southwest of Stewart Island / Rakiura. The Snares consist of the ma ...

group most likely refers to a straggler. The Auckland teal is smaller and rarer than the

brown teal The brown teal (''Anas chlorotis''; mi, pāteke) is a species of dabbling duck of the genus ''Anas'' native to New Zealand. For many years it had been considered to be conspecific with the flightless Auckland and Campbell teals in ''Anas auckla ...

of the main islands of New Zealand, a species with which it was once considered conspecific. The

plumage Plumage ( "feather") is a layer of feathers that covers a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage differ between species and subspecies and may vary with age classes. Within species, ...

is all over brown with a hint of green on the neck and a conspicuous white eyering. The female is slightly darker than the male. The wings are very small and the species has, like the related

Campbell teal The Campbell teal or Campbell Island teal (''Anas nesiotis'') is a small, flightless, nocturnal species of dabbling duck of the genus ''Anas'' endemic to the Campbell Island group of New Zealand. It is sometimes considered conspecific with the ...

, lost the power of

flight Flight or flying is the process by which an object moves through a space without contacting any planetary surface, either within an atmosphere (i.e. air flight or aviation) or through the vacuum of outer space (i.e. spaceflight). This can be a ...

. The Auckland teal is mostly

crepuscular In zoology, a crepuscular animal is one that is active primarily during the twilight period, being matutinal, vespertine, or both. This is distinguished from diurnal and nocturnal behavior, where an animal is active during the hours of daylig ...

nocturnal Nocturnality is an animal behavior characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatures generally have highly developed sens ...

, preferring to hide from predators (

New Zealand falcon The New Zealand falcon ( mi, kārearea or ''kāiaia''; ''Falco novaeseelandiae'') is New Zealand's only falcon. Other common names for the bird are Bush Hawk and Sparrow Hawk. It is frequently mistaken for the larger and more common swamp harrie ...

s and

skua The skuas are a group of predatory seabirds with seven species forming the genus ''Stercorarius'', the only genus in the family Stercorariidae. The three smaller skuas, the long-tailed skua, the Arctic skua, and the pomarine skua are called ...

s) during the day. The species inhabits a variety of habitats with the islands, including tussock fields, mega herb shrubland and coastal waters. It is carnivorous for the most part, feeding on marine invertebrates,

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...

amphipod Amphipoda is an order of malacostracan crustaceans with no carapace and generally with laterally compressed bodies. Amphipods range in size from and are mostly detritivores or scavengers. There are more than 9,900 amphipod species so far descr ...

s and other small Invertebrates. Auckland teal are territorial and seldom form flocks. Anas aucklandica (AM LB9806-2) (cropped)

References

External links

BirdLife Species Factsheet

{{Taxonbar, from=Q262071

Auckland teal The Auckland teal (''Anas aucklandica''), also known as Auckland Islands teal or brown teal, is a species of dabbling duck of the genus ''Anas'' that is endemic to Auckland Islands south of New Zealand. The species was once found throughout the A ...

Birds of the Auckland Islands

Endemic birds of New Zealand

References

Further reading

External links