Trevor (duck)

Last updated

Trevor
Species Anas platyrhynchos (mallard)
SexMale
DiedJanuary 2019
Nation from Niue
Known forUnexplained arrival
Named after Trevor Mallard

Trevor (died January 2019) was a mallard duck [1] that made a vagrant appearance in the island country of Niue in January 2018. He remained in Niue until he died in 2019. [2]

Contents

Life

Trevor began receiving media attention when The New Zealand Herald journalist Claire Trevett encountered the duck on a visit to Niue and reported on his appearance in an article published in September 2018, [3] at which point Trevor's story gained coverage from worldwide news sources. [4] Mallard ducks are not endemic to Niue, and the country's habitat is not suitable for them, as Niue lacks any surface fresh water, [5] [6] [3] which mallards require. [7] :507 Trevor lived as a local celebrity in a particular roadside puddle which the Niue Fire Service would refill when it began to dry out; Trevett learned of Trevor when she asked for directions and was told to "turn right past the duck". [8]

Commentators hypothesised that he was either blown off course by a storm [4] or stowed away on a ship, [8] as the distance from New Zealand where mallards have been introduced [9]  is too great for the duck to have flown under his own effort. [10]

Hundreds of kilometres from any other duck and without a mate, he was known as "the world's loneliest duck", [4] although accompanied by a rooster, a chicken and a weka. [2]

Trevor was named after Trevor Mallard, Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives. [10] As Niue is freely-associated with New Zealand, political scientists have described this as a use of geopolitical soft power. [11] :13 The Foreign Minister of New Zealand arranged for veterinarians from Auckland to assist Niue's Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in caring for the duck. [12]

Death

On 23 January 2019, a Facebook page named after Trevor expressed dismay that Trevor had not been seen in his regular habitat. [13] Two days later, on 25 January, a follow-up post confirmed that Trevor had been "seen dead in the bush after being attacked by dogs". [14] Trevor was mourned locally and Niue received condolences from around the world, including from his namesake politician. [4]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Niue</span> Island country in the South Pacific Ocean

Niue is a self-governing island country in free association with New Zealand. It is situated in the South Pacific Ocean and is part of Polynesia, and predominantly inhabited by Polynesians. One of the world's largest coral islands, Niue is commonly referred to as "The Rock", which comes from the traditional name "Rock of Polynesia".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duck</span> Common name for many species of bird

Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfamilies, they are a form taxon; they do not represent a monophyletic group, since swans and geese are not considered ducks. Ducks are mostly aquatic birds, and may be found in both fresh water and sea water.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern pintail</span> Migratory duck that breeds in northern Eurasia and North America

The pintail or northern pintail is a duck species with wide geographic distribution that breeds in the northern areas of Europe and across the Palearctic and North America. It is migratory and winters south of its breeding range to the equator. Unusually for a bird with such a large range, it has no geographical subspecies if the possibly conspecific duck Eaton's pintail is considered to be a separate species.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gadwall</span> Species of bird

The gadwall is a common and widespread dabbling duck in the family Anatidae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mallard</span> Species of duck

The mallard or wild duck is a dabbling duck that breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Eurasia, and North Africa. It has been introduced to New Zealand, Australia, Peru, Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, the Falkland Islands, and South Africa. Belonging to the subfamily Anatinae of the waterfowl family Anatidae, mallards live in wetlands, eat water plants and small animals, and are social animals preferring to congregate in groups or flocks of varying sizes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wood duck</span> Species of bird

The wood duck or Carolina duck is a partially migratory species of perching duck found in North America. The male is one of the most colorful North American waterfowls.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Muscovy duck</span> Species of bird

The Muscovy duck is a duck native to the Americas, from the Rio Grande Valley of Texas and Mexico south to Argentina and Uruguay. Feral Muscovy ducks are found in New Zealand, Australia, and in Central and Eastern Europe. Small wild and feral breeding populations have also established themselves in the United States, particularly in Florida, Louisiana, Massachusetts, the Big Island of Hawaii, as well as in many other parts of North America, including southern Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laysan duck</span> Species of bird

The Laysan duck, also known as the Laysan teal, is a dabbling duck endemic to the Hawaiian Islands. Fossil evidence reveals that Laysan ducks once lived across the entire archipelago, but today survive only on Laysan Island and two atolls. The duck has several physical and behavioral traits linked to the absence of ground-based predators in its habitat. By 1860, the ducks had disappeared from everywhere except Laysan Island. The introduction of European rabbits by guano miners at the end of the 19th century brought the bird to the brink of extinction in 1912, with twelve surviving individuals. Rabbits were eradicated from the island in 1923 and numbers of Laysan ducks began to rise, reaching 500 by the 1950s. In an effort to ensure the long-term future of this duck, 42 birds were translocated to Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge in 2002. These thrived in their new surroundings, and another group were later relocated to Kure Atoll.

<i>Anas</i> Genus of birds

Anas is a genus of dabbling ducks. It includes the pintails, most teals, and the mallard and its close relatives. It formerly included additional species but following the publication of a molecular phylogenetic study in 2009 the genus was split into four separate genera. The genus now contains 31 living species. The name Anas is the Latin for "duck".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mottled duck</span> Species of bird

The mottled duck or mottled mallard is a medium-sized species of dabbling duck. It is intermediate in appearance between the female mallard and the American black duck. It is closely related to those species, and is sometimes erroneously considered a subspecies of the former.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trevor Mallard</span> New Zealand politician (born 1954)

Sir Trevor Colin Mallard is a New Zealand politician and diplomat. Since 2023, he has served as Ambassador of New Zealand to Ireland. He was a Member of Parliament from 1984 to 1990 and again from 1993 to 2022. He served as Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives from 2017 until 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pacific black duck</span> Species of bird

The Pacific black duck is a dabbling duck found in much of Indonesia, New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand, and many islands in the southwestern Pacific, reaching to the Caroline Islands in the north and French Polynesia in the east. It is usually called the grey duck in New Zealand, where it is also known by its Maori name, pārera.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blue duck</span> Species of duck endemic to New Zealand

The blue duck or whio is a member of the duck, goose and swan family Anatidae endemic to New Zealand. It is the only member of the genus Hymenolaimus. Its exact taxonomic status is still unresolved, but it appears to be most closely related to the tribe Anatini, the dabbling ducks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mariana mallard</span> Extinct species of bird

The Mariana mallard or Oustalet's duck is an extinct species of duck of the genus Anas that was endemic to the Mariana Islands. Its taxonomic status is debated, and it has variously been treated as a full species, a subspecies of the mallard or of the Pacific black duck, or sometimes as a subspecies of the Indian spot-billed duck.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hawaiian duck</span> Species of bird

The Hawaiian duck or koloa is a species of bird in the family Anatidae that is endemic to the large islands of Hawaiʻi. Taxonomically, the koloa is closely allied with the mallard. It differs in that it is monochromatic and non-migratory. As with many duck species in the genus Anas, Hawaiian duck and mallards can interbreed and produce viable offspring, and the koloa has previously been considered an island subspecies of the mallard. However, all major authorities now consider this form to be a distinct species within the mallard complex. Recent analyses indicate that this is a distinct species that arose through ancient hybridization between mallard and the Laysan duck. The native Hawaiian name for this duck is koloa maoli, or simply koloa. This species is listed as endangered by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, and its population trend is decreasing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pacific reef heron</span> Species of bird

The Pacific reef heron, also known as the eastern reef heron or eastern reef egret, is a species of heron found throughout southern Asia and Oceania. It occurs in two colour morphs with either slaty grey or pure white plumage. The sexes are similar in appearance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Domestic duck</span> Type of poultry

Domestic ducks are ducks that have been domesticated and raised for meat and eggs. A few are kept for show, or for their ornamental value. Most varieties of domesticated ducks, apart from the Muscovy duck and hybrids, are descended from the mallard, which was domesticated in China around 2000 BC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bird hybrid</span> Bird with two different species as parents

A bird hybrid is a bird that has two different species as parents. The resulting bird can present with any combination of characteristics from the parent species, from totally identical to completely different. Usually, the bird hybrid shows intermediate characteristics between the two species. A "successful" hybrid is one demonstrated to produce fertile offspring. According to the most recent estimates, about 16% of all wild bird species have been known to hybridize with one another; this number increases to 22% when captive hybrids are taken into account. Several bird species hybridize with multiple other species. For example, the mallard is known to interbreed with at least 40 different species. The ecological and evolutionary consequences of multispecies hybridization remain to be determined.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Zealand musk duck</span> Extinct species of duck

The New Zealand musk duck, also known as de Lautour's duck, is an extinct stiff-tailed duck native to New Zealand. It is only known from subfossil bones. It was 10 percent larger than its closest living relative, the Australian musk duck Biziura lobata, with which it has sometimes been combined.

References

  1. Maynard, Roger (10 September 2018). "Lonely duck blows in to remote Pacific island of Nuie". The Times. Archived from the original on 10 September 2018.
  2. 1 2 Weedon, Alan (27 January 2019). "Niue says goodbye to its famous solitary duck, Trevor". ABC News. Archived from the original on 15 November 2024.
  3. 1 2 Trevett, Claire (5 September 2018). "The sorry tale of Niue's only duck". The New Zealand Herald. Archived from the original on 22 October 2020.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Victor, Daniel (29 January 2019). "'World's loneliest duck' dies on tiny Pacific island that loved him". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 29 January 2019.
  5. Wheeler, Christopher; Aharon, Paul (2004). "Geology and hydrogeology of Niue". In Vacher, H. Leonard; Quinn, Terrence M. (eds.). Geology and Hydrogeology of Carbonate Islands. Developments in Sedimentology. Vol. 54. pp. 537–564. doi:10.1016/S0070-4571(04)80039-6. ISBN   978-0-444-51644-2. OCLC   1162020033. OL   16971143W.
  6. Parks, Clint (9 October 2024). "Niue's fight to sustain itself". National Geographic. Archived from the original on 26 September 2024.
  7. Cramp, Stanley; Simmons, K. E. L.; Ferguson-Lees, I. J.; Gillmor, Robert; Hollom, P. A. D.; Hudson, Robert; Nicholson, E. M.; Ogilvie, M. A.; Olney, P. J. S.; Voous, K. H.; Wattel, Jan, eds. (1977). Handbook of the Birds of Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa: The Birds of the Western Palearctic. Vol. 1: Ostrich to Ducks. Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-0-19-857358-6. OCLC   13791970. OL   6725264W.
  8. 1 2 Beldi, Lauren (6 September 2018). "Trevor is 'the world's loneliest duck', and now he's facing a housing crisis". ABC News. Archived from the original on 7 September 2018.
  9. Dyer, John; Williams, Murray (2010). "An introduction most determined: Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) to New Zealand". Notornis. 57 (4): 178–195.
  10. 1 2 Lyons, Kate (7 September 2018). "Trevor the lonely duck gets tiny island of Niue in a flap". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 7 September 2018.
  11. Futaiasi, Derek; Habru, Priestley; Koro, Maima; Waqavakatoga, William; McNeill, Henrietta (2023). Lalaga, tithiki, talia vata: Pacific Islands weaving statecraft (PDF). Adelaide Papers on Pacific Security. Stretton Institute, University of Adelaide. OCLC   1409565437. NLA   10011068.
  12. Peters, Winston (17 January 2019). "RE: 1862". Letter to Heather Hastie. Archived from the original on 25 December 2022 via Jerry Coyne.
  13. Butler, Gavin (29 January 2019). "Trevor, the world's loneliest duck, is dead". Vice. Archived from the original on 15 November 2024.
  14. Chiu, Allyson (29 January 2019). "'Fly on, Trevor': Pacific island mourns death of the 'world's loneliest duck'". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 29 January 2019.