whion.
/ˈfiːəʊ/, U.S. /ˈfiˌoʊ/, New Zealand English /fio/, /ˈfiːʌu/ New Zealand.
The blue duck, Hymenolaimus malacorhynchos, native to New Zealand.
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the world > animals > birds > freshwater birds > order Anseriformes (geese, etc.) > subfamily Merginae (duck) > [noun] > unspecified and miscellaneous types of
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wood-duck1777
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lady1792
stranger1792
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tree-duck1824
Labrador duck1834
hareld1841
whio1847
pink-eyed duck1848
penguin duck1850
topknot duck1850
Aylesbury1854
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pink-eye1861
Peking duck1874
runner1878
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Steller's (eider) (duck)1884
Peking1885
half-bird1893
torrent-duck1899
1847 T. Brunner Jrnl. 2 Apr. in N. M. Taylor Early Travellers N.Z. (1959) 272 Shot a wihu, or blue duck.
1855 R. Taylor Te Ika a Maui xxv. 407 Wio,..the blue duck, is found abundantly in the mountain streams of the south part of the North Island..; it takes its name from its cry.
1880 J. C. Crawford Recoll. Trav. N.Z. & Austral. 122 At Kai-inanga, Deighton shot a pair of whio, or blue~ducks.
1966 Encycl. N.Z. I. 499/2 The most peculiar is undoubtedly the blue duck, mountain duck, or whio.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1986; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.1847