Aythya novaeseelandiae
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~90% in a week >90%
The New Zealand scaup (Aythya novaeseelandiae), also known as the black teal (or pāpango and several other names in Māori), is a diving duck species of the genus Aythya endemic to New Zealand. They weigh around 650 grams (23 oz) and measure around 40 centimetres (16 in), and have dark-coloured plumage. They are found throughout New Zealand in deep natural and man-made lakes and ponds.
New Zealand scaup lay around 7 eggs and the ducklings are immediately capable of diving to feed. Adult scaups can dive to at least 3 metres and for as long as a minute for aquatic plants and invertebrates. Scaups started declining in the late 1800s until they were fully protected in 1934, and their population is now increasing thanks to predator control and new habitat.
The New Zealand scaup was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it with all the ducks, geese and swans in the genus Anas and coined the binomial name Anas novaeseelandiae. Gmelin based his description of the "New-Zealand duck" that had been described in 1785 by the English ornithologist John Latham in his... Wikipedia →
Song0:40
New Zealand · 2026
© Nathan El · XC1105862 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Call0:12
New Zealand · 2014
© nick talbot · XC198201 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Recording0:22
New Zealand · 2024
© UreweraWhio · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fiordland National Park | 🇳🇿 New Zealand |
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Auckland | 🇳🇿 New Zealand |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Zoo Aquarium de Madrid | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 3 | Cologne Zoological Garden | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 4 | Budapest Zoo & Botanical Garden | 🇭🇺 Hungary | |
| 5 | Auckland Zoo | 🇳🇿 New Zealand | |
| 6 | Paradise Valley Springs | 🇳🇿 New Zealand | |
| 7 | Bird Park Steinen | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 8 | Kiwi Park | 🇳🇿 New Zealand | |
| 9 | Ōtorohanga Kiwi House | 🇳🇿 New Zealand | |
| 10 | Texas State Aquarium | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 11 | Cologne Zoo Aquarium | 🇩🇪 Germany |
Likely
About 50% of wildlife watchers report a New Zealand Scaup sighting in Fiordland National Park on a given day, based on 1,402 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 10th most-seen of the 94 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 90%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
October and November
In those months about 60% of wildlife watchers report a New Zealand Scaup in Fiordland National Park on a given day, against about 30% in August, the lowest month.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most New Zealand Scaup sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Fiordland National Park, in our data
Fiordland National Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate New Zealand Scaup sightings: about 50% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same family: Anatidae
The closest relatives of the New Zealand Scaup that you can see in Fiordland National Park (family Anatidae, Ducks, Geese, and Swans) are Paradise Shelduck (about 60%), Mallard (about 40%) and Canada Goose (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the New Zealand Scaup is recorded against all the birds logged in Fiordland National Park (1,402 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
