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Numbers of brown teal (Anas chlorotis) present at summer flock sites in Northland, New Zealand declined 65% during 1988-99 and the species’ principal rangc contracted to three enclaves locatcd along 20 km of the eastern coast. Most populations underwent a period of pdual decline followed by an abrupt crash, symptomatic of prolonged recruitment failure. Drought-induced habitat and landscape change is proposed as an important agcnt of decline in two formerly large populations at Clendon Cove and Tutaernatai. Extirpation in Northland appears imminent.