Whio/Blue Duck
Our blue duck or whio is special because it enjoys living in clean fast-flowing rivers. It’s called a torrent duck - it just loves white-water.
Do you remember in 1995 when Mt Ruapehu blew its lid? Well, that was a sad day for whio who lived nearby. A great big tide of mud and volcanic ash filled the nearby alpine rivers. There was so much sulphur in the rivers whio had to move to cleaner side-streams. And not surprisingly, the whio population took a tumble!
Special Features
• They are called whio because that is the sound that the male makes – it sounds like ‘fee-o, fee-o’. Try it! The female whio makes a growling noise instead.
• The name blue duck comes from their grey/blue feathers which help to camouflage them amongst all the wet rocks in the river.
• They have special blue scrapers on their bill, like rubbery lips, that helps them to scrape insect larvae off the rocks.
Where are they found?
Whio can only be found in New Zealand. They have no close relatives anywhere else in the world.
Once, whio could be found throughout New Zealand, but now they can only be found in the Ureweras, East Cape, central parts of the North Island and the West Coast of the South Island.
They like to live in especially clean, clear water, so if you see a whio in a river, you know that the river it’s living in is pure and clean.
Whio couples generally defend a 1.5 kilometre territory in rivers and you can see them very early in the morning or late in the evening. During the day the hide in caves, log piles or amongst plants. You are lucky if you get to see a whio.
Whio make their nests out of twigs and grass lined with soft feathers. They make them in caves, under the plants on the side of the river or in piles of logs in the river. Unfortunately that means they can easily be washed away in floods. The female lays four to seven eggs in the nest and keeps them warm while the male stands guard.
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Whio Families
When they hatch whio ducklings have extra BIG webbed feet. That’s so that they can easily swim through the white water and strong currents.
For the first three months their parents will teach them all they need to know. Then after that, they’ll tell them to find their own patch of the river!
Why don’t I see them in wild rivers everywhere?
Whio are now listed as ‘nationally endangered’ because there are only 2,000 to 3,000 left in the world and they all live in New Zealand.
Like many of our native birds, they have lots of predators. Stoats are their main predator because they eat whio eggs, chicks and adults. Possums, cats and dogs can also attack whio.
Another big problem for whio is habitat loss. A lot of our endangered birds, like kiwi, kakapo and takahe, can be taken to offshore islands or moved to safer places but the whio needs clean, wild rivers with healthy forests around them to survive.
These rivers are now becoming more polluted, been dammed for hydro-power or lots of the water is being used for watering paddocks and crops. This means there are fewer and fewer places for whio to live.
How are we helping the whio?
• Forest & Bird works as a partner with the Central North Island Blue Duck Trust to establish new whio populations and protect existing populations.
• In places where whio live, like Taranaki and Tongariro, community groups trap stoats to make sure they don’t attack the whio.
• Riparian planting (trees and shrubs planted on the banks of rivers) is being done in some areas to help keep water clean and provide nesting places for whio.
• If you are lucky enough to see a whio let the Department of Conservation know where you saw it, when you saw it and how many you saw. This helps them to figure out where whio are living and how many are left.
