Rhodonessa caryophyllacea (Pink-headed Duck)

[another specialist]

Back in Hanoi, Jonathan rechecks his field notes and fieldguides, inspects expedition photos of Spot-billed Ducks, and ultimately cannot rule out the possibility that the duck we saw may have been the zonorhyncha race of Spot-billed Duck; a bird with a uniformly dark upperwing, dark colouring up the neck, and a beige to pink head—all features team members noted.

Possible confusion; Spotbilled Ducks Anas poecilorhynchaof the race zonorhynchahave dark bodies and
contrasting pale heads (J C Eames/BirdLife)

Both the above bits of info are from the above report

As this species is not officially rediscovered should it be here in this category?

[Melanie]

As long there is no confirmation that the surveys have completely failed, i think this could stay here.

[Peter]

I agree! The Pink-headed Duck is also not officially listed as extinct in the 2004 IUCN Red List, although it says "Possibly Extinct". I thought that I've read in the revisions for the 2005-2006 list by BirdLife that it is changed into just Critically Endangered.

[Melanie]

Pink-headed blank
18-07-2006

A fourth joint BirdLife/Biodiversity and Nature Conservation Association (BANCA - BirdLife in Myanmar) survey in Kachin State, northern Myanmar, has failed to find evidence of the continuing existence of the Pink-headed Duck Rhodonessa caryophyllacea.

"We followed up local reports, but all proved to be White-winged Ducks," said expedition leader Jonathan Eames of BirdLife in Indochina. "If the Pink-headed Duck was resident in Kachin, we surely would have found it by now. Perhaps it is indeed extinct or is only a visitor to the region."

The team used elephants and boats to search the floodplain grasslands and ox-bow lakes along the Nat Kaung River, north of Kamaing and south of Shadusup. Although no Pink-headed Ducks were found, several globally threatened species were recorded, including Green Peafowl Pavo muticus, White-winged Duck Cairina scutulata, Masked Finfoot Heliopais personata, White-rumped Vulture Gyps bengalensis, Slender-billed Vulture Gyps teniurostris, White-bellied Heron Ardea insignis and Lesser Adjutant Leptoptilos javanicus.

Large areas of apparently suitable habitat have now been surveyed in Kachin State, through a project funded by the UK government’s Darwin Initiative. Undaunted, the team hope to survey areas further south in Myanmar where Pink-headed Ducks were historically recorded.

[another specialist]

Thanks Melanie for above - so it seems more and more that this bird is truely extinct and has not been discovered after all.

[another specialist]

Common Name/s

PINK-HEADED DUCK (E)
CANARD À TÊTE ROSE (F)
PATO CABECIRROSA (S)

Justification

This species has not been seen in the wild since 1949; it was always considered rare, and may have been driven extinct by a combination of hunting and habitat loss. However, it cannot yet be presumed to be Extinct until remote wetlands in northern Myanmar have been surveyed. Any remaining population is likely to be tiny, and for these reasons it is treated as Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct).

www.iucnredlist.org/search/details.php?species=19675

[another specialist]

Justification This species has not been seen in the wild since 1949; it was always considered rare, and may have been driven extinct by a combination of hunting and habitat loss. However, it cannot yet be presumed to be Extinct until remote wetlands in northern Myanmar have been surveyed. Any remaining population is likely to be tiny, and for these reasons it is treated as Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct).



Family/Sub-family ANATIDAE

Species name author (Latham, 1790)

Taxonomic source(s) Sibley and Monroe (1990, 1993)

Identification 60 cm. Graceful, long-necked duck. Males have deep pink head and neck, blackish-brown centre of throat, foreneck and most of remaining plumage. Rosy-pinkish bill. In flight, pale brownish-buff secondaries, narrow, whitish leading edge to wing-coverts and pale pink underwing. Females have duller and browner body, pale greyish-pink head and upper neck with brownish wash on crown and hindneck and duller bill. Juvenile has duller brown body than female, with fine, whitish feather fringes. Voice Males utter weak whistle, females a low quack. Hints Search remote, overgrown wetlands in north-east India and northern Myanmar.


Population estimate
Population trend
Range estimate (breeding/resident)
Country endemic?

<50
unknown
-
No


Range & population Rhodonessa caryophyllacea was locally distributed in the wetlands of India, Bangladesh and Myanmar, and occurred rarely in Nepal, with most records from north-east India and adjacent Bangladesh. It was always considered uncommon or rare and was last seen in the wild in 1949, surviving until around the same time in captivity. Recent "sightings" and positive leads from a series of questionnaires about its possible continued existence in north-east India were the result of confusion with Red-crested Pochard Netta rufina. Hopes remain that it may be rediscovered in remote wetlands in northern Myanmar. Its extinction cannot be confirmed until this part of its former range has been surveyed.


Ecology It is shy and secretive, inhabiting secluded and overgrown still-water pools, marshes and swamps in lowland forest and tall grasslands, particularly areas subject to seasonal inundation and, in winter, also lagoons adjoining large rivers. Outside the breeding season it was usually encountered in small groups and occasionally flocks of 30-40. Some, and possibly all, populations undertook local seasonal movements, resulting in scattered historical records as far afield as Punjab, Maharashtra, and Andhra Pradesh.


Threats Its decline resulted from a combination of hunting and habitat loss. As a sedentary species, it suffered year-round persecution during a period (the late 19th and early 20th centuries) when hunting levels in India were high. Clearance of forest and drainage of wetlands for agricultural land has destroyed much of its habitat. It is likely that egg collection and disturbance also contributed to its decline.


Conservation measures underway CITES Appendix I. CMS Appendix II. Throughout the 1950s there were attempts to clarify its status, culminating in a literature and museum specimen review. It was subsequently searched for in some key areas. Since 1956, it has been legally protected.


Conservation measures proposed Locate and systematically survey any remaining remote and large tracts of suitable habitat within its former range, particularly north Bihar, Assam and Myanmar, and interview local hunters. Should it be rediscovered, stringent protection measures should be taken to ensure the survival of any populations.

www.birdlife.net/datazone/search/species_search.html?action=SpcHTMDetails.asp&sid=468&m=0

[another specialist]

www.birdlife.net/datazone/search/species_search.html?action=SpcHTMDetails.asp&sid=468&m=0

[another specialist]

www.ornithomedia.com/ magazine/mag_art205_1.htm



www.futura-sciences.com/ sinformer/n/news5380.php

[another specialist]

melanie said:

here the same. we have already a thread in the rediscovered category.

extinctanimals.proboards22.com/index.cgi?board=generalra&action=display&thread=1107787792&page=1

From the other thread

During the survey team members had a possible but unconfirmed sighting of what may have been a Pink-headed Duck. Team members were unable to agree with 100% certainty and unanimity on the identification since the brief views were of a bird in flight, at a distance and in bright light.

Quote:The BirdLife team will return to Burma in November 2005 for another attempt to find Pink-headed Duck.

By Peter

The end of 2005 can be a very good one for major rediscoveries! Hopefully the Pink-headed Duck, as well the Caspian Tiger! For both animals a new survey will start then!

[another specialist]

Pink-headed Duck Rhodonessa caryophyllacea
Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct). This striking duck was locally distributed in the wetlands of India, Bangladesh and Myanmar, and occurred rarely in Nepal, with most records from north-east India and adjacent Bangladesh. Recent claims in north-east India were the result of confusion with Red-crested Pochard Netta rufina. It was always considered uncommon or rare and was last seen in the wild in 1949, surviving until around the same time in captivity. It may have been driven extinct by a combination of hunting and habitat loss, but hopes remain that it may be rediscovered in remote wetlands in northern Myanmar. Indeed, in November 2004 there was a possible sighting of a Pink-headed Duck seen in flight in Kachin state, but the views were not good enough to eliminate Spot-billed Duck Anas poecilorhyncha of the subspecies zonorhyncha; further surveys are planned for November 2005 (J. C. Eames in litt. 2004). Other searches are needed in north-east India, particularly in Assam and Bihar.



Pink-headed
Ducks
in captivity 1929
hand-coloured
black and white
photo
(Raymond Sawyer)

www.orientalbirdclub.org/publications/basiafeats/lost2.html

[sebbe67]

2003 Pink-headed Duck Survey in the Hukaung Valley, Myanmar


A local fisherman who had reportedly shot a Pink-headed Duck Rhodonessa caryyophyllacea during 2003
Photo: J. C. Eames


During November 2003, staff from BirdLife and BANCA undertook a survey of wetlands in Kachin State organized by Wildbird Adventure Travels and Tours (WATT). The main objective of the survey was an attempt to rediscover the enigmatic Pink-headed Duck Rhodonessa caryophyllacea which has not been recorded in Myanmar since 1910. Travelling along the Ledo Road west from Mytkyina, the team began its boat-based survey at Tanai on the Tanai River, which later becomes the Chindwin River. The team then surveyed the numerous ox-bow lakes found along the river both up and down stream from Tanai. The survey was conducted in the both the newly designated Hukaung Valley Wildlife Sanctuary and further south beyond the boundary. During the survey the team received credible reports from two fishermen, who independently of one another, claimed to have seen and hunted the species at the same ox-bow lake.

[another specialist]

the source for above entry by sebbe67

www.birdlifeindochina.org/english/countries/myanmar/myanmar_species.html

[sebbe67]

The Pink-headed Duck (''Netta caryophyllacea'') is a large diving duck. It was formerly classified as Rhodonessa caryophyllacea, but has recently been shown by genetic analysis to be closely related to the Red-crested Pochard, Netta rufina, and has therefore now been transferred to the same genus. This duck formerly occurred in northeast India and Myanmar, but is now probably extinct. It has always been rare, and the last confirmed sighting was in 1935. Reports of pink-headed ducks continue to be received from the largely unexplored Mali Hka and Chindwin Myit drainages in Northern Myanmar. While the area is not very well surveyed by scientists, searches have been inconclusive and confusion with the Red-crested Pochard a common source for supposed Pink-headed Duck sightings. A report on a recent (November 2003) survey can be found in the BirdLife publication Babbler, vol. 8, p. 6; it was concluded that there is sufficient reason to believe that Pink-headed ducks indeed may still exist in Northern Myanmar's Kachin State. Its breeding habitat was lowland marshes and pools in elephant-grass jungle. The nest is built amongst grass. They were gregarious birds, and used to form flocks of 30 or more. The 60 cm long Pink-headed Duck is unmistakable. It is long bodied and long necked, with a tufted head. The adult male has a chocolate-coloured body and a deep Pink head and hindneck. The female and juvenile are similar but duller. Confusion with Red-crested Pochards stems mainly from observations of swimming birds, as the latter species also has a conspicuous red head. Pink-headed Ducks eat aquatic plants, and, like other Netta species, typically upend for food much more than other diving ducks.

[another specialist]

source for above

www.answers.com/topic/pink-headed-duck

[another specialist]

Moved from Scarlett's Duck thread

bowheadwhale said:

Have you ever heard of the extinct pink-headed duck? This duck lived in India. It was captured and sold as a ornemental bird for parks and it haven't been seen since 1930 or 1940.

[another specialist]

also moved as above

bowheadwhale said:

Anyway, here's a wonderful page about this ratherly unknown duck:
www.wwt.org.uk/threatsp/pastwwt/pinkhead.htm
On this page, it is said that a colony has been found in 1998.

[another specialist]

also moved as previous entrys - pic has been mentioned already

rsn said:

This image is a live or stuffed specimen?



Also, it is really a pink-headed duck?

[another specialist]

also been moved

noisi said:

... it is stuffed, and it really is a Pink-headed Duck

[another specialist]

also moved

bowheadwhale said:

I do not know if it's alive or stuffed, but yes, it's a real pink-headed duck; the reason why its head is not so pink is because it's a juvenile.