Skip to main content

Story: Wetland birds

Male and female paradise shelduck

Audio file

A paradise shelduck pair usually stays close together, each bird calling in turn as they move about. The male’s call is deeper than the female’s. The female has a white head, whereas the male’s head is glossy green-black. Like other shelducks they have a long goose-like neck.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: PUBL-0023-43

by John Gerrard Keulemans

Sound file from Nga Taonga Sound & Vision. Any re-use of this audio is a breach of copyright. To request a copy of the recording, contact Nga Taonga Sound & Vision (New Zealand birds /Reference number T7702)

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

All images & media in this story

How to cite this page

Christina Troup, Wetland birds – Paradise shelducks – pūtangitangi, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/natural-sounds/14628/male-and-female-paradise-shelduck (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Christina Troup, published 1 March 2009.