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Paradise shelduck
The paradise shelduck (Tadorna variegata), also known as the paradise duck, or pūtangitangi in Māori, is a species of shelduck, a group of goose-like ducks, which is endemic to New Zealand. Johann Friedrich Gmelin placed it in the genus Anas with the ducks, geese, and swans. Both the male and female have striking plumages: the male has a black head and barred black body and the female has a white head with a chestnut body. They weigh between 1.09 and 2 kg (2.4 and 4.4 lb) and are between 63 and 71 cm (25 and 28 in) in length.
Paradise shelducks mate for life and usually live as pairs, and moult their feathers from December to February. They are primarily herbivorous, and mostly graze on pasture grasses and clover, but have been observed eating a wide range of invertebrates. They are seasonally hunted as a game bird throughout New Zealand, and today the IUCN Red List classifies them as a species of least concern.
The paradise shelduck was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it with all the other ducks, swans, and geese in the genus Anas and coined the binomial name Anas variegata. Gmelin based his description on the "Variegated goose" from New Zealand that had been described in 1785 by the English ornithologist John Latham in his A General Synopsis of Birds. The naturalist Joseph Banks had provided Latham with a water-colour drawing of the duck by Georg Forster who had accompanied James Cook on his second voyage to the Pacific Ocean. The picture of a female bird was drawn in April 1773 at Dusky Sound, a fiord on the southwest corner of New Zealand. This picture is now the holotype for the species and is held by the Natural History Museum in London. The paradise shelduck is now placed with five other species in the genus Tadorna that was introduced by the German zoologist Friedrich Boie in 1822. The genus name comes from the French word Tadorne for the common shelduck. The specific epithet variegata is from the Latin variegatus meaning "variegated". The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised. Other common names include painted duck, pari, parry, parrie, and pūtangitangi in Māori.
The paradise shelduck is a colourful, large-bodied species of duck that differs in features depending on the sex. Both females and males have chestnut-colour undertails, primarily black wing feathers with green secondary wing feathers, and upper wing surface feathers that are white. They have black legs and webbed feet for swimming. Paradise shelducks are the largest of the Tadorna species, measuring 63 to 71 cm (25 to 28 in) in length and between 1.09 and 2 kg (2.4 and 4.4 lb) in weight, averaging 1.72 kg (3.8 lb) in males and 1.29 kg (2.8 lb) in females, with a wingspan of around 90 centimetres (35 in).
The adult male has a blue-black head and neck, with a black rump and tail; the back and flank are lightly flecked with a pale yellow colour. The wings of males have contrasting white upper-coverts and black remiges, metallic green speculum feathers, and rusty brown tertials feathers. The male also has a dark grey flecked with pale-yellow breast and abdomen, chestnut undertail and underwing, and black iris, bill, legs, and feet. The female, unlike the male, has an entirely white head and neck with a dark grey back heavily flecked with pale yellow. The rest is very similar to the male with the female's body being dark or light chestnut depending on age and stage of molting.
The downy young are white with a brown crown and brown stripes from crown to tail. Juvenile males look much like the adult males, but the females are smaller with a white patch at the base of the bill. The females assume their white head during the first molt and 1–2 months after fledging their breast and abdomen turn dark chestnut.
The vocal calls differ from male to female. The male belts a di-syllabic honk like a goose when in flight or when alarmed. The male gives off a deep zonk-zonk honk, while the female is characterised by a penetrating zeek-zeek.
Male and fledgling paradise shelducks can be confused with the vagrant Australian shelduck which has a similar size, shape, and posture when swimming, on land, and when in flight. However, paradise shelducks lack the white collar, white parts around the eye and base of the bill, and the chestnut-coloured breast band.
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Paradise shelduck
The paradise shelduck (Tadorna variegata), also known as the paradise duck, or pūtangitangi in Māori, is a species of shelduck, a group of goose-like ducks, which is endemic to New Zealand. Johann Friedrich Gmelin placed it in the genus Anas with the ducks, geese, and swans. Both the male and female have striking plumages: the male has a black head and barred black body and the female has a white head with a chestnut body. They weigh between 1.09 and 2 kg (2.4 and 4.4 lb) and are between 63 and 71 cm (25 and 28 in) in length.
Paradise shelducks mate for life and usually live as pairs, and moult their feathers from December to February. They are primarily herbivorous, and mostly graze on pasture grasses and clover, but have been observed eating a wide range of invertebrates. They are seasonally hunted as a game bird throughout New Zealand, and today the IUCN Red List classifies them as a species of least concern.
The paradise shelduck was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it with all the other ducks, swans, and geese in the genus Anas and coined the binomial name Anas variegata. Gmelin based his description on the "Variegated goose" from New Zealand that had been described in 1785 by the English ornithologist John Latham in his A General Synopsis of Birds. The naturalist Joseph Banks had provided Latham with a water-colour drawing of the duck by Georg Forster who had accompanied James Cook on his second voyage to the Pacific Ocean. The picture of a female bird was drawn in April 1773 at Dusky Sound, a fiord on the southwest corner of New Zealand. This picture is now the holotype for the species and is held by the Natural History Museum in London. The paradise shelduck is now placed with five other species in the genus Tadorna that was introduced by the German zoologist Friedrich Boie in 1822. The genus name comes from the French word Tadorne for the common shelduck. The specific epithet variegata is from the Latin variegatus meaning "variegated". The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised. Other common names include painted duck, pari, parry, parrie, and pūtangitangi in Māori.
The paradise shelduck is a colourful, large-bodied species of duck that differs in features depending on the sex. Both females and males have chestnut-colour undertails, primarily black wing feathers with green secondary wing feathers, and upper wing surface feathers that are white. They have black legs and webbed feet for swimming. Paradise shelducks are the largest of the Tadorna species, measuring 63 to 71 cm (25 to 28 in) in length and between 1.09 and 2 kg (2.4 and 4.4 lb) in weight, averaging 1.72 kg (3.8 lb) in males and 1.29 kg (2.8 lb) in females, with a wingspan of around 90 centimetres (35 in).
The adult male has a blue-black head and neck, with a black rump and tail; the back and flank are lightly flecked with a pale yellow colour. The wings of males have contrasting white upper-coverts and black remiges, metallic green speculum feathers, and rusty brown tertials feathers. The male also has a dark grey flecked with pale-yellow breast and abdomen, chestnut undertail and underwing, and black iris, bill, legs, and feet. The female, unlike the male, has an entirely white head and neck with a dark grey back heavily flecked with pale yellow. The rest is very similar to the male with the female's body being dark or light chestnut depending on age and stage of molting.
The downy young are white with a brown crown and brown stripes from crown to tail. Juvenile males look much like the adult males, but the females are smaller with a white patch at the base of the bill. The females assume their white head during the first molt and 1–2 months after fledging their breast and abdomen turn dark chestnut.
The vocal calls differ from male to female. The male belts a di-syllabic honk like a goose when in flight or when alarmed. The male gives off a deep zonk-zonk honk, while the female is characterised by a penetrating zeek-zeek.
Male and fledgling paradise shelducks can be confused with the vagrant Australian shelduck which has a similar size, shape, and posture when swimming, on land, and when in flight. However, paradise shelducks lack the white collar, white parts around the eye and base of the bill, and the chestnut-coloured breast band.