March is Whio Awareness Month.

These unique birds are some of the only ducks in the world to live in fast flowing streams. Their presence is a great indicator of healthy river ecosystems. But, with less than 3,000 left in New Zealand, we've got to do our best to keep them around!

Whio/Blue duck pair on banks of a river.
Rights: Bubs Smith, Department of Conservation

Whio pair

Whio stay together as monogamous pairs and usually hold the same territory for life.

For further information, fun whio activities and more, check out these organisations below. Plesae do let us know if we have missed any by emailing us at enquiries@sciencelearn.org.nz:

Find out more about whio

Related articles

The Hubs have lots of great articles on the whio:

Related professional learning development

Check out our teacher PLD sessions related to whio, that were run with the support of the Department of Conservation:

Activities

The activities below are all related to whio and are a great way to extend you own, and your student’s knowledge, about whio:

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