New Zealand Birds | Birds | Gallery | grey teal, Anas gracilis

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	Tete, the grey teal

These ducks breed only in Australia and New Zealand. According to Heather and Robertson, in New Zealand they were rare until the 1950s when several irruptions from Australia occurred. With some encouragement with nestings boxes, the population radily increased.

However, Sir Walter Lawry Buller reported in 1879 that the grey teal was plentiful in Lake Rotomahana in the Bay of Plenty but that was before the eruption of Mount Tarawera in 1886.

Taxonomy
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Anseriformes
Family:	Anatidae
Genera:	Anas
Species:	gracilis
Sub Species:

Other common names: —

Anas gibberifrons gracilis.

Description: —

Native bird:

43 cm., males 525 g., females 425 g., light brown with pale grey cheeks chin and foreneck, bill blue grey, eye red, speculum blue-green with prominent white triangle in flight.

Where to find: —

Common in shallow coastal lakes and lagoons South Auckland and northern Waikato, Hawke’s Bay, Manawatu, Wairarapa and eastern South Island from Marlborough to Southland.

Credit for the photograph: —

Illustration description: —

Proceedings of the Zoological Society, 1882.

Reference(s): —

Heather, B., & Robertson, H., Field Guide to the Birds of New Zealand, 2000.

Oliver, W.R.B. New Zealand Birds, 1955.

Buller, Walter Lawry, Birds of New Zealand, 1888.

Page date & version: —

Friday, 22 July, 2005; ver200506

nzbirds > birds (of New Zealand) > bird gallery

Tete, the grey teal