Pacific Black Ducks
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The Pacific Black Duck, Anas superciliosa, is a dabbling duck found in much of Indonesia, New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand, and many islands in the southwestern Pacific, reaching to the Caroline Islands in the north and French Polynesia in the east. It is usually called the Grey Duck or Parera in New Zealand.
This sociable duck is found in a variety of wetland habitats, and its nesting habits are much like those of the Mallard, which is encroaching on its range in New Zealand. It feeds by upending, like other Anas ducks.
It is not resident on the Marianas islands, but sometimes occurs there during migration. The now-extinct Mariana Mallard was probably originally derived from hybrids between this species and the mallard, which came to the islands during migration and settled down there.
There are three subspecies of Anas superciliosa:
- rogersi breeds in Indonesia, New Guinea and Australia,
- pelewensis on the southwest Pacific islands, and
- superciliosa in New Zealand.
The New Zealand subspecies has declined sharply in numbers, at least in its pure form, due to competition from and hybridisation with the introduced mallard (Gillespie, 1985). Rhymer et al. (1994) say their data "points to the eventual loss of identity of the Grey Duck as a separate species in New Zealand, and the subsequent dominance of a hybrid swarm akin to the 'Mariana Mallard.'"
Description
It has a dark body, and a paler head with a dark crown and facial stripes. In flight it shows a green speculum and pale underwing. All plumages are similar.
The size range is 54-61 cm; males tend to be larger than females, and some island forms are smaller and darker than the main populations.
It was assumed that far more mallard drakes mate with Grey Duck females than vice versa based on the fact that most hybrids show a mallard-type plumage, but this is not correct; It appears that the mallard phenotype is dominant, and that the degree to which species contributed to a hybrid's ancestry cannot be determined from the plumage (Rhyner et al. 1994). The main reasons for displacement of the Pārera seem to be physical dominance of the larger mallards, combined with a marked population decline of the Pārera due to overhunting in the mid-20th century (Williams & Basse 2006)
Description:
It has a dark body, and a paler head with a dark crown and facial stripes. In flight it shows a green speculum (= distinctive wing patch) and pale underwing. All plumages are similar.
The size range is 54-61 cm; males tend to be larger than females, and some island forms are smaller and darker than the main populations
Copyright: Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from Wikipedia.org.
Diet / Feeding:
Ducks generally feed on larvae and pupae usually found under rocks, aquatic animals, plant material, seeds, small fish, snails and crabs.
Feeding Ducks ...
We all enjoy ducks and many of us offer them food to encourage them to come over and stay around - and it works! Who doesn't like an easy meal!
However, the foods that we traditionally feed them at local ponds are utterly unsuitable for them and are likely to cause health problems down the road. Also, there may be local laws against feeding this species of bird - so it's best to check on that rather than facing consequences at a later stage.
- Click here to find out which foods to feed them that will offer the nutrition they need to survive a cold winter and remain healthy
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