Burdekin duck

English

Alternative forms

• burdekin duck

Etymology

From Burdekin (“a surname”); named after the Burdekin River, Queensland, which in turn was named for Mrs. Thomas Burdekin, who provided assistance to the expedition during which the river was discovered (by Europeans).

Pronunciation

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Noun

Burdekin duck (countable and uncountable, plural Burdekin ducks)

1. (Australia, countable) The bird Tadorna radjah, a protected species within Australia.
   • 1870, Edward B. Kennedy, Four years in Queensland‎^[1], page 116:

     The Burdekin duck is also large, and bronze and white in colour. They are found in large numbers on the River Burdekin, from which they derive their name.

   • 2002, Rob Van Driesum, Lonely Planet Outback Australia‎^[2], page 388:

     The park is one of Australia's chief refuges for several bird species, including the Burdekin duck and magpie goose.

   • 2003, Susannah Farfor, David Andrew, Hugh Finlay, Northern Territory, page 145:

     The park is one of the chief refuges in Australia for several species, among them the magpie goose, green pygmy-goose and Burdekin duck.

   • 2005, Allan Marett, Songs, Dreamings, and Ghosts: The Wangga of North Australia‎^[3], page 17:

     The duck on his left shoulder is the chestnut teal (mudjigin), and the one on his right is a burdekin duck (tindirrgam).

2. (Australia, uncountable, obsolete) A food dish made from leftovers or ingredients to hand, usually including corned beef.
   • 1977, Richard Daunton-Fear, Penelope Vigar, Australian Colonial Cookery, Rigby, 1977, →ISBN (discussing 19th century cookery),

     even the exotic-sounding "Burdekin duck" consists of nothing more than slices of cold beef fried in batter.

   • 2010, Marion Houldsworth, The Morning Side of the Hill‎^[4], page 214:

     It was loaded with food; sponge-cakes each higher and lighter than the next and oozing frothy cream, plates of sandwiches, egg and lettuce, corned-beef and pickle, and ‘Burdekin Duck’ made of bacon and tomato and cheese squashed up.

   • 2010, Jill Bowen, Kidman The Forgotten King, unnumbered page:

     You could turn corned beef into Burdekin Duck by putting strips of cold corned beef into batter, and puftalooners could be made with balls of premixed damper thrown into hot fat, and damper could be turned into brownies with sultanas and currants

Synonyms

• (Tadorna radjah): radjah shelduck, raja shelduck