Australian Blue-billed Duck

The Blue-billed Duck was described in 1836 by ornithologist John Gould. The specific name australis is derived from the latin for southern and hence Australian, while the generic name is derived from the latin oxy- sharp and ura tail.

The Australian Blue-billed Duck is classified as Near Threatened (NT), is close to qualifying for or is likely to qualify for a threatened category in the near future.

Australian Blue-billed Duck (Oxyura australis) but its bones were about one tenth smaller than those of its Australian relative. The holotype was found in 1967 at Lake Poukawa in Hawke's Bay, North Island, New Zealand. The specific name honours the late Australian ornithologist Gerard Frederick van Tets (1929–1995) who first recognized the relationship of this species with the stiff-tailed ducks in 1983. Because the bones of the New Zealand Stiff-tailed Duck were unlabeled, it was not until 2004 that Trevor H. More