Pacific Black Duck

There are three subspecies of Anas superciliosa:-

Australasian Duck - Australia, Indonesia, Southern New Guinea (rogersi, Mathews 1912)

Pacific Black Duck commonly known as PBD - Southwest Pacific Islands, Northern New Guinea (pelewensis, Hartlaub & Finsch 1872)

New Zealand Grey Duck, New Zealand (superciliosa Gmelin 1789)
In the 1960's their numbers made up 95% of NZ's dabbling duck population, but due to being exported to Europe over the years, duckshooting season over the decades, and crossbreeding with other introduced species such as the Mallard, their numbers have been vastly decimated to the degree that they are now a species in serious decline - with the average seasonal kill of 500,000 in years gone by.

Grey Duck... read mores are mainly freshwater creatures, and mostly feed on aquatic plant seeds, snails, and worms and caterpillars from pastures. As one year olds they breed, pairing immediately after the shooting season in mid June, and searching out nesting spots - mainly on the ground in grass or tussock - until the September to December breeding season, when one egg is laid each morning until there are about ten creamy, white eggs. They are packed in down, and normally covered to retain warmth while the female leaves the nest for two brief periods a day to feed. The male loses interest after about five days, and goes off to look for solitary females. Incubation takes twenty-six days. The young leave the nest within hours of the last hatched drying off, and are quickly led to water to feed for usually no more that an hour for the first two weeks. Brooding ceases after about three weeks, and the young fledge within eight to ten weeks. They may stay in a group for a further week or so, but generally separate to join different groups in the area, later dispersing widely throughout the country. Banding records indicate a first year mortality rate of 66%. Survivors of the first year have an expectation of two more years, although a fourteen year old bird has been recovered.

The speculum (the bright iridescent coloured area on the secondary flight feathers of some ducks) is green with black borders, and no white bars. The larger male and female are similar in brown speckled plumage to the Mallard - which has a purple speculum.