Facts about the brown teal/pateke

Brown teal swimming

The Pateke’s omnivorous diet, restricted annual range and mainly terrestrial lifestyle give it a unique ecological niche among waterfowl, somewhat akin to a wetland rodent, and it serves as a classic example of the influence of selective forces that operated on birds in pre-human New Zealand.

The Pateke were once widespread throughout New Zealand but are now rare and restricted to Great Barrier Island and coastal valleys of eastern Northland plus several predator free islands.

The species has suffered an ongoing decline in numbers and range since the late nineteenth century.

There are currently fewer than 1000 Pateke living in a wild state in New Zealand, making it New Zealand’s rarest waterfowl species on the mainland.

Pateke: features and ecology

• They now number around 1000 birds nationally concentrated in two remnants, Great Barrier Island (where approximately 700 reside) and Northland (where around 300 reside)
• Their habitat is within broad lowland valleys comprising of short-grass pasture, streams, wetlands, estuaries and associated riparian vegetation
• They feed at night on invertebrates, fruits, seeds, and vegetation.  These are generally found in damp or flooded pasture, lawns, drains, shallow wetlands, estuaries, and wet forest habitats
• Pateke nest in winter and spring in rushes, sedges or under banks.