A banded whio/blue duck, by stream edge.
Rights: Bubs Smith Published 20 April 2017 Size: 4.9 MB Referencing Hub media

The whio/blue duck is endemic to New Zealand. It is a nationally vulnerable species and faces a risk of becoming extinct, largely due to habitat destruction.

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    ACTIVITY

    Eliciting prior knowledge

    In this activity, students are given an opportunity to share what they know about the whio. Two methods of eliciting prior knowledge are modelled, whio bingo and an ideas wall. Although whio/blue ...

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    2. ACTIVITY

    Which duck is which?

    New Zealand is home to a wide variety of water birds, including many species of ducks. Most of these are endemic, but some have been introduced and a few have naturalised here. Different native ...

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    3. ACTIVITY

    Whio habitats and conservation

    The conservation status of many New Zealand ducks is not ideal. At least seven native New Zealand duck species are extinct, and several are still endangered. One of the most endangered is the ...

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    4. TEACHER PLD

    Why learn about whio?

    In this recorded professional learning session, Shanthie Walker from DOC and Lyn Rogers continue to explore why the whio/blue duck is so important to New Zealand and why it is so endangered. They ...

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    5. ARTICLE

    Introducing New Zealand ducks

    New Zealand is home to a wide variety of water fowl. Water fowl is the common name for the Anatidae, the family of birds that includes ducks, geese and swans. Most of the Anatidae in New Zealand ...

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    6. ARTICLE

    Native bird adaptations

    New Zealand separated from Gondwana around 65 million years ago. Due to the geographical isolation and a lack of ground-dwelling predators, our birds evolved unique characteristics. Flight was ...

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