Hunting NZ > Ducks, Geese and Swans

Game Ducks

Mallard Duck: The mallard is the most common duck in New Zealand and the Northern Hemisphere. From 1867 repeated attempts were made to acclimatise English game farm stock, but these failed. Then, in the 1930s and 40s, eggs from San Francisco came in wicker baskets on board flying boats. After that, mallards rapidly spread throughout the country. Today there are about 4.5 million mallards, so many that they are sometimes a nuisance. The mallard is the mainstay of the duck hunter’s bag.

Grey Duck: The native grey duck was once hunters’ main quarry. However, draining wetlands caused loss of habitat, resulting in closed hunting seasons for grey duck. The newly established and much more adaptable mallard kept the game seasons open, thus maintaining the flow of hunter licence money that helped turn the tide against wetland destruction. In areas where there are still large natural wetlands the grey duck continues to hold it’s own.

Shoveler Duck: The “spoonie” has comb-like openings in the side of its spoon shaped bill that let it sift fine insect life from the surface of biologically rich wetlands. The shoveler was uncommon last century but there are now around 150,000 in New Zealand. Because of it’s specialised habits, it is unlikely to ever be very common, but birds have moved into wetlands designed for them by Fish & Game NZ.

Paradise Duck: The paradise duck is New Zealand’s only shelduck, which means it is a rather gooselike duck. “Parries” are another conservation success story. When the country was first settled, paradise duck were rare. The conversion of bush to pasture, and the creation of many stock ponds, (thousands of which were subsidised by hunters’ licence fees), has caused numbers to explode. In fact, special paradise duck hunting seasons are necessary to stop large mobs damaging farm paddocks with their grazing.

Other Game Waterfowl

Black Swan: The black swan is an Australian bird that flew into New Zealand last century at the same time as acclimatisers were releasing it, resulting in an explosion of numbers. However, from the 1970s on farm silt run-off killed the water plants that swan depend on. Starving birds began to eat grass, leading to culls in which many thousands of the birds were killed until their numbers adapted to their impoverished circumstances. In other areas, where water plants persist, swan numbers remain strong so most regions can still allow limited swan hunting opportunities.
The issue of lake pollution, and therefore the swans’ future, is one in which Fish & Game NZ takes a special interest.

The Canada Goose: “Honkers” were introduced from the USA as a gift from President Theodore Roosevelt. They also have potential to conflict with landowners by eating farmers’ best grass. This is the wariest of all waterfowl and the hunters’ most challenging target, which doesn’t always help with achieving target harvests! However, Fish & Game NZ has put a great deal of effort into educating hunters on the ways of the geese in the hope that many more will be taken home by triumphant hunters as roast dinners rather than be treated a pests to be controlled.

Regulating the harvests

Fish & Game NZ staff count waterfowl populations and evaluate their habitat each year. This work includes aerial counts of swans and geese, banding of paradise ducks and the management of elaborate hunter diary systems to monitor the harvest of mallard, grey and shoveler ducks. This allows gamebird seasons and limits to be set with a precision that ensures the birds are not over harvested so they will be around in equal numbers in the years to come. Fish & Game NZ is active in saving habitat and even creating it and has fought major court cases on behalf of waterfowl to prevent their homes being drained and lost forever.

Protected Species (not hunted)

Grey Teal: This Australian duck was thought to have come to New Zealand last century. However, its bones have since turned up in centuries-old midden sites, suggesting a much earlier arrival. Their fondness for nesting in hollow trees has led sportsmen and women to put up thousands of nesting boxes to encourage an increase in numbers. However, grey teal numbers will have to be raised still further to justify a limited hunting season.

Scaup: New Zealand’s only diving species, the native scaup, (also known as black teal), is a dumpy little duck common on clear water lakes such as those around Rotorua. Farm sediment has clouded many other lakes, causing scaup to abandon them. “Streamcare” groups that aim to restore water quality may hold hope of the scaup’s eventual return. They have been protected since the 1930s.

Blue Duck: This native New Zealand duck is a “torrent” species, at home on forest streams and rivers where it feeds among rocks on aquatic insects. Because of this specialised niche, blue duck have a flexible bill unique among the world’s many waterfowl.

For more information contact your local Fish & Game office or the New Zealand Council on (04) 499 4767 or fax (04) 499 4768