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Story: Duck shooting

Paradise shelducks

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Paradise shelducks

Paradise shelducks are endemic to New Zealand. They are unusual in being one of the few native bird species that have done well since the arrival of Europeans. They like to graze on pasture, so land clearance and conversion of forests to farmland has suited them. Duck shooters call them ‘parries’. This is a male shelduck (top) and a female (bottom).

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How to cite this page

Harvey C. Perkins and Bob Gidlow, Duck shooting – History of duck hunting, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/17651/paradise-shelducks (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Harvey C. Perkins and Bob Gidlow, published 1 March 2009.