New Zealand Scaup/ Black Teal Aythya novaeseelandiae
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.
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
No white face patch
"Bald as a coot", says the young moorhen, giving the thumbs down to its new friend
