The New Zealand Scaup commonly known as a Black teal, is a diving duck

Diving duck

The diving ducks, commonly called pochards or scaups, are a category of duck which feed by diving beneath the surface of the water. They are part of the diverse and very large Anatidae family that includes ducks, geese, and swans....

 species of the genus Aythya. It is endemic

Endemic (ecology)

Endemism is the ecological state of being unique to a defined geographic location, such as an island, nation or other defined zone, or habitat type; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsewhere. For example, all species of lemur are endemic to the...

 to New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

. In Maori commonly known as papango, also matapouri, titiporangi, raipo .

Description

Overall dark brown/black colours. The male has a striking yellow eye and a dark coloured (greenish) head. The female is similar to the male, but without the yellow eye and has a white face patch during breeding season. A white wing bar can be seen in both sexes when in flight .

Feeding

They are a diving duck and may stay down for twenty to thirty seconds and go down three metres to look for aquatic plants, small fish, water snails, mussels and insects . It is sometimes seen with the Australian Coot (Fulica atra); it is thought that the Scaup takes advantage of the food stirred up by the Coots as they fossick for shrimps.

Distribution

Found throughout both North and South islands of New Zealand in deep freshwater lakes and ponds . Unlike other members of this genus this scaup is not migratory, although it does move to open water from high country lakes if they become frozen in winter.

Life cycle

They nest from October to March. They lay five to eight cream/white eggs in a nest close to water, often under banks or thick cover. The nest is usually lined with grass and down . The eggs are incubated for four weeks by the female. The newly hatched duckling take to diving for food on their first outing.