Brown Teal - New Zealand (1 Viewer)

[miksik]

At November I visited Tiritiri Matangi (New Zealand) and I was really exciting! I would like ask you about taxonomy/identification of Teals - especially about Brown Teal. At the leaflet of Tiriti Matangi reserve it is written at at this island lives Brown Teal. However I looked at a new Birds of New Zealand by Robertson and Heather and they wrote at Auckland Islands lives Auckland Island Teal (Anas aucklandica) that is really similar to Brown Teal (Anas chlorotis) but flightless. For example Wikipedia said: "Pateke is the progenitor of the flightless Auckland teal and Campbell teals but all are now recognised as separate species on account of their geographic isolation and their plumage, size and genetic distinctions. The insular A. aucklandica and A. nesiotis are recognised as good species, but are still sometimes referred to as being part of the "brown teal group". The use of the name 'pateke' is now common & is specific for this species in question." So it is my question: which teal is living at Tiritiri Matangi? I asked Tiritiri Matangi twice but without response. Please, see my photos. However I didn't try if teals can flight.

Thanks for any suggestion

Ivan

 

[Alan henry]

At November I visited Tiritiri Matangi (New Zealand) and I was really exciting! I would like ask you about taxonomy/identification of Teals - especially about Brown Teal. At the leaflet of Tiriti Matangi reserve it is written at at this island lives Brown Teal. However I looked at a new Birds of New Zealand by Robertson and Heather and they wrote at Auckland Islands lives Auckland Island Teal (Anas aucklandica) that is really similar to Brown Teal (Anas chlorotis) but flightless. For example Wikipedia said: "Pateke is the progenitor of the flightless Auckland teal and Campbell teals but all are now recognised as separate species on account of their geographic isolation and their plumage, size and genetic distinctions. The insular A. aucklandica and A. nesiotis are recognised as good species, but are still sometimes referred to as being part of the "brown teal group". The use of the name 'pateke' is now common & is specific for this species in question." So it is my question: which teal is living at Tiritiri Matangi? I asked Tiritiri Matangi twice but without response. Please, see my photos. However I didn't try if teals can flight.

Thanks for any suggestion

Ivan

I was on Tiritiri Matangi recentley and they are Brown Teal that are found there. If the photo was taken on the way up to the lighthouse, I saw the same birds and another pair that flew into the pond.

Cheers

Alan

 

[miksik]

I was on Tiritiri Matangi recentley and they are Brown Teal that are found there. If the photo was taken on the way up to the lighthouse, I saw the same birds and another pair that flew into the pond.

Cheers

Alan

OK, probably the same birds. However - Auckland Island Teal (Anas aucklandica) or Brown Teal (Anas chlorotis)? Probably it is a question of taxonomy (Brown Teal was divided to 3 species).

 

[stevethehydra]

I think you might have been confused by geography here.

The Auckland Island Teal is from the Auckland Islands, which are far to the south of New Zealand's South Island.

Tiritiri Matangi is one of several islands that are fairly close to the *city* of Auckland, which is on New Zealand's North Island, but these islands are not the Auckland Islands.

I know that a common conservation tactic in New Zealand has been to relocate endangered species on rat- and cat-free islands, often far from their original range, but as far as I can find online this hasn't been done with the Auckland Island Teal (though it was done with the Campbell Island Teal on Snares Island, but that's also off South Island and nowhere near Tiritiri Matangi), so I think you can safely call these Brown Teal (Anas chlorotis).

(I'm a bit surprised that aucklandica and nesiotis (Campbell Island) were both made full species, given how close the Auckland and Campbell islands are to each other and how far they are from "mainland" New Zealand. Would this imply that scientists think they got to each island group separately in two different "colonisation" events and then became flightless independently, rather than one population getting to the Auckland Islands first and from there to the Campbell Islands or vice versa (in which latter scenario I'd imagine nesiotis would be retained as a subspecies of aucklandica)?

 

[miksik]

I think you might have been confused by geography here.

The Auckland Island Teal is from the Auckland Islands, which are far to the south of New Zealand's South Island.

Tiritiri Matangi is one of several islands that are fairly close to the *city* of Auckland, which is on New Zealand's North Island, but these islands are not the Auckland Islands.

I know that a common conservation tactic in New Zealand has been to relocate endangered species on rat- and cat-free islands, often far from their original range, but as far as I can find online this hasn't been done with the Auckland Island Teal (though it was done with the Campbell Island Teal on Snares Island, but that's also off South Island and nowhere near Tiritiri Matangi), so I think you can safely call these Brown Teal (Anas chlorotis).

(I'm a bit surprised that aucklandica and nesiotis (Campbell Island) were both made full species, given how close the Auckland and Campbell islands are to each other and how far they are from "mainland" New Zealand. Would this imply that scientists think they got to each island group separately in two different "colonisation" events and then became flightless independently, rather than one population getting to the Auckland Islands first and from there to the Campbell Islands or vice versa (in which latter scenario I'd imagine nesiotis would be retained as a subspecies of aucklandica)?

Thank you very much for your explain!

Ivan