Papango - New Zealand scaup - Aythya novaeseelandiae

A duck that scores high on the cuteness factor.

Small, bouncy, and rather endearing, these little ducks are the delight of many ponds and rivers, both in the wild and in domestic parks and gardens.

Scaup are the most common of the small New Zealand ducks and is still found in many parts of the country, although its numbers have been greatly reduced compared with earlier days and in spite of hydro lakes offering additional habitat. They are diving ducks which have come to prefer large bodies of clean water. They can dive to a depth of 2–3 metres in search of fresh water snails and aquatic plants.
They are quite distinctive ducks, the males being black with a purplish, greenish sheen on the head and the rest of the body a brownish black with a distinctive yellow eye. The purplish/greenish sheen is much brighter and more obvious in breeding season. The female is a more drab brown with a brown eye. In breeding plumage, she has a small white band on the forehead above the beak. Sometimes jokingly referred to as “rubber duckies” as their squat, high headed shape almost exactly mimics the popular rubber bath toy.
They are also a highly social species and may nest in close proximity to each other. There is an elaborate courtship display involving the male flinging its head backwards to lie along the back with the bill pointing up and extending its body flat across the water towards the female while whistling softly. While the female is nesting the male stays close by. Indeed the occurrence of a solitary male floating near the shoreline during the breeding season, is an almost sure indication of the presence of a nesting duck.