- Conservation status
- In serious trouble
The grey duck has striking facial strips, a leaden grey bill and a green patch of colour (speculum) on its secondary flight feathers. These features separate this handsome native from the blue-tinted speculum of the introduced mallard hens and scruffy hybrids.
Campaign Manager
Harriet van der Westhuizen
The pārera boasts a tragic tale as old as time; they once thrived all across the country only to be outcompeted by a new introduced species (the mallard).
Pārera and female mallards look similar, leading to the pārera being caught in the crossfire during waterfowl season. Additionally, hybridisation with the mallard is leading to a loss of the pārera’s genetic integrity and further threatens its loss.
I might just be a bird-loving uni student with a dream, but I believe the pārera should be your pick for BOTY 2025. With a tragic backstory and understated yet dashing good looks, how could it not be?
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