It was heartwarming for us to see these Paradise Shelduck parents out with their young one at a stream near the Dunedin Botanic Garden, New Zealand in early December 2020. I’m used to seeing many young with parents but this pair only had one. Most people simply refer to them as Paradise Ducks.
Note: The shelduck with the white head is the female.
Click on any photo to enlarge.
We saw the family a day or two earlier a little further upstream where there’s a concrete channel. On 09 Dec I spotted them in the normal stream, very pretty too! Cropped from the second photo.
Context …
Next three images are from photos taken by Nigel a day or two earlier, channelised stream area.
Had to include this .. I like the graffiti background 🙂
Detail (cropped from above photo). Water flow was very fast but the young one was confidently swimming across the flow unsupervised and would even stop in the flow to feed, paddling furiously.
Young one feeding in the strong current. Little dare-devil, LOL!
Text by Liz, photos by Liz and Nigel; Exploring Colour (2020/2021)
Exploring Colour 
I love ducks. Round here they are mostly mallards – they can have quite cheeky personalities! 🙂
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What a cool-looking duck. The graffiti gives us a real sense of its “natural” environment. I really enjoyed your narrative commentary too, Liz.
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Thank you Mike! These ducks are great. We see them in the country all the time and it’s also common to see them hanging around in towns or cities. If you come anywhere near a rural pair they’ll take to the air with loud cries – a duet because male and female vocalise differently.
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Somehow I am intrigued and delighted by a pair of ducks singing a duet. 🙂
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One of my favourite NZ birds!
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That’s nice to know Mr PM. Quite something given you’ve come to know a lot about our different birds!
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