Paradise Ducks on the farm pond that I featured in my last post. These are more properly described as Paradise Shelducks (Tadorna variegata). They’re exceedingly noisy birds, you can hear them in this recording. The male and female make different sounds, most often in unison! Endemic.
Photos taken by Liz, 16 August 2020. Central Otago, New Zealand. The site is near the highway, between Fruitlands and Roxburgh.
Click on any photo to enlarge
The male can be difficult to see against shadow as he’s dark – he’s in all the photos.
Text and photos by Liz; Exploring Colour (2020)
Exploring Colour 
I find it fascinating how many species show complete sexual dimorphism. One would never suspect them to belong to the same kind by just looking at them.
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It’s good of you to adorn a
Post with the ducks called Tadorna.
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Hahaha! Well done Steve, hehehe … that’s wonderful 😀 Particularly funny to me because we often see them sitting on top of a (fence)-post in a farm paddock, pretty common perch for them. Sending a big hug your way, over the waves, to Texas.. far away!
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Chalk up one for serendipity, because I didn’t know about these bird sitting on that other kind of post. Thanks for the trans-oceanic hug, which is safe in our pandemic times.
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That would also make a great ringtone for the mobile phone. It’s relatively unusual for the male to be so much somber in coloration than the female, with that striking white head. He’s a very handsome fellow, though.
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Wow I played that audio file, ok! I’m awake now! 😀
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Yes! Your comment makes me think it’d be a good file to load for a wake-up alarm – just discussed that with the OH and we think we’ll try it 🙂
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haha! that should do the trick, alright!
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LOL, that would certainly be an alarming wake-up call! They sound very different to the ducks here (mallards).
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We have loads of mallards here too! The Paradise Shelducks are bigger in every way than the mere mallards!
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