Photo: New Zealand Scaup Chicks Auckland Zoo

Resting on the logs along the shore of a pond, a New Zealand Scaup keeps a close watch over her chicks at the Auckland Zoo.

A mother New Zealand Scaup tilts her head to the side to make sure there is no danger lurking to ensure that her chicks are kept safe. Her chicks are testing the waters for their swimming and diving lessons and the area must be safe as there is some teaching that needs to be done by the mother Scaup.

The dark black coloring that the mother Scaup possesses is what the chicks will grow to become but while they are still young, their plumage is still very fluffy and soft. Most of their time is spent around deep lakes where they will feed on plants and crustaceans and that is why it is so important for the mother Scaup to teach her chicks about the water soon after they are born.

A mother New Zealand Scaup will usually lay seven or eight eggs in her nest that is hidden under dense greenery along the water's edge. This is where they are incubated by the female until they hatch and then they are marched to the water to begin their life's journey. ... continue below the picture...

...

This particular family resides at the Auckland Zoo in Auckland, New Zealand with many other species of birds where there habitats are created as natural as possible. The New Zealand Scaup was once found over a widespread area but their numbers have declined significantly because of human interference. The Auckland Zoo makes every effort to help these birds so that we will not find that they have become extinct one day.

New Zealand Scaup, Aythya novaeseelandiae, with chicks at the Auckland Zoo, Auckland, North Island, New Zealand.