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Post by another specialist on May 3, 2009 20:19:51 GMT
 Pink-Headed Duck (Rhodonessa caryophyllacea) - Known as the rarest of waterfowl, the Pink-Headed duck was last seen in captivity in the early 1940’s. Due to their remote habitat in India, they were always a very prized bird to harvest. Pink Headed Duck Recreation Images About the bird: The Pink-Headed duck was a bird that had an almost comical shade of pink that encompassed his head and neck, except for a small stripe of blackish-brown that ran from the from the front of his chest to the bottom of his bill. The male was a generally blackish-brown bird, and had secondary feathers and under-wings that were of a pinkish hue. His bill was a pinkish-red, and eyes were orangish-red. Truly a bird that was unlike any other that exists today. The female was similar to the male, she was generally more of a brownish color, and the pink parts of the male are slightly duller on the female. Of the extinct waterfowl, the Pink-Headed duck is one of the most known about extinct waterfowl, second to the Labrador duck. Throughout time, they were a prized trophy due to their rarity and their very unique plumage. Purchase this bird: Request the pink-headed duck For the Pink-Headed duck recreations, I offer a breeding plumage male and female. Available will be either the male or female as a single, or the pair together on an accurate base for the habitat they used to inhabit. Not many of these birds exist in museums today, and the quality of them does not really do justice to the absolutely stunning bird they were. These mounts are truly a great opportunity to own one of the most sought after birds of its time. Pink-Headed Prices View Complete List Pink-Headed Duck Drake $495 Pink-Headed Duck Hen $495 Pink-Headed Duck Pair $895 aliveagainrecreations.com/pink-headed.php |
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Post by another specialist on Nov 5, 2009 23:04:13 GMT
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Post by ada on May 12, 2011 19:09:43 GMT
Call me weird, but I wanted to ask anyone who knows more about birds than I do. (I'm mostly interested in marsupials).
Does anyone know any similar-looking duck?
Two times I have seen a similar looking duck (black body, pinkish head) in central poland in an area frequented by the common mallard (Anas platyrhynchos). The duck I saw was larger than the mallards, since they were not far away and I could compare the sizes.
I also seen a mandarin duck (Aix galericulata) in that area once, which is not native to this region at all. Thus I suspected that the duck with the pink head that I seen, as well as the mandarin duck, were likely escapees from some private bird farm.
I don't really believe taht I rediscovered the duck mind you, but I'd like to rest assured knowing what similar looking duck might it be.
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Post by Deleted on May 12, 2011 19:28:27 GMT
Maybe You have seen an Red-crested Pochard (Netta rufina)?
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Post by ada on May 12, 2011 19:59:17 GMT
Maybe You have seen an Red-crested Pochard ( Netta rufina)? Seriously doubt that. First of all, teh duck I saw was visibly larger than male mallards that were nearby at that moment. Netta rufina is smaller than a mallard. Secondly, both the color of the head, as well as its shape did not look much like Netta rufina. N.rufina is more orange-brwnish, while the duck i seen was rather pinkish, like the legs of a pidgeon. I suspected it migth be an Aythya ferina, but again the size did not match as the A.ferina is smaller than mallards. I was sober when i seen taht duck, so its not a case of pink elephants&pink ducks  |
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Post by Peter on May 13, 2011 9:57:51 GMT
Can't think of any other duck with a pink head. A species with a similar black body is the White-winged Wood Duck, Asarcornis scutulata. But it has a white-coloured/spotted head. This species lives in the same area as the Pink-headed duck and is sometimes responsible for so-called pink-headed duck sightings. Or maybe a Muscovy Duck ( Cairina moschata) in a quick flash (black bird with pink/orange-coloured bare skin around eye/beak). One thing can be sure...it was not a pink-headed duck. But you already know that. |
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Post by ada on May 13, 2011 12:45:23 GMT
After looking through some info on ducks, it now looks as if that was a hybrid. Many duck species can crossbreed, even fairly distanly related ones. As I said, I seen several exotic duck species in the area that were most likely escapees from some private site.
Currently I'm almost sure that the pink duck I saw was a hybrid. My best bet is that it was a cross of Aythya fuligula and Aythya ferina. or a cross between Aythya fuligula and some exotic duck wich produced the pink head result.
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Post by RSN on May 5, 2012 19:45:57 GMT
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Post by Melanie on Sept 3, 2014 16:44:53 GMT
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Post by Sebbe on Sept 3, 2014 18:06:49 GMT
It seems like Richard Thorns is continuing his search for the Pink-headed Duck in Myanmar, with a fourth visit in January 2014. |
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Post by Melanie on Sept 3, 2014 18:38:49 GMT
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Post by Melanie on Sept 3, 2014 19:54:56 GMT
Video by Richard Thorns
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Post by Melanie on Sept 3, 2014 19:56:18 GMT
Another video by Richard Thorns
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Post by Melanie on Jan 15, 2015 16:13:28 GMT
Great painting by Richard Thorns (via Facebook)  |
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Post by Melanie on Feb 6, 2015 21:17:08 GMT
'If you turned around and saw a pink-headed duck it would be like seeing... Elvis Presley' A BIRDWATCHER from Crowborough will embark on his fifth trip to Burma this week in memory of a friend who shared his dream of finding a bird believed to be extinct since the 1960s. Richard Thorn, 51, who visited the country last January on his quest to find a pink-headed duck deemed "probably extinct", will leave on Friday to continue his search which began 16 years ago. He will visit the town of Shwegu, in Burma's Kachin State in memory of his friend Tony Htin Hla, chairman of The Biodiversity and Nature Conservation Association, who believed the ducks may still be living in lakes bordering the town before his death from liver cancer. Mr Thorn, an ambulance care assistant, said: "Last time I went was about one year ago – the area we went to had never been surveyed before because it was so remote. "My theory is if you have one wetland that somebody says they saw a pink-headed duck, if you look there and don't find it, it doesn't mean it is extinct. "Let's say it is not there, for safety reasons it could have relocated but it is a totally different thing – it means everyone is looking in the wrong place." Mr Thorn first started his quest when working at Hoopers department store in Tunbridge Wells. He visited Tunbridge Wells library on a lunch break and picked up a book, which described the fabled bird. Since then he has spent more than £10,000 on his dream – and said it is worth every penny. While in Burma Mr Thorn hopes to speak to as many elderly people who may remember seeing the duck with the help of a guide, who will act as a translator. Despite no confirmed sightings since 1935, reports of the rare bird continued until the 1960s in Burma and India but Mr Thorn believes it is possible the birds are not totally extinct but surviving in remote areas. "Last time I was there my guide said he had heard about an area in far north mountain locked area, Sittwe, and he said the tribe up there called it 'golden duck' – they knew of them and ate two recently," Mr Thorn said. "It is not an environment they would normally go to but they could have relocated." He added: "People do find extinct species – if I found the duck it wouldn't so much close a chapter in my life as it would cross a dividing line. "It would be like watching your lottery numbers come up. "If you turned around and there was a pink-headed duck it would be like seeing Elvis Presley." On his previous visits, Mr Thorn has visited the Tapin River, Indawgyi Lake, Mandalay Division and Nagaland but on each occasion with no success. If the elusive bird cannot be found on this trip to Burma, Mr Thorn said he would be visiting India on the border with Burma on his next visit, where other bird watchers have hoped to catch a glimpse of the duck. Read more: www.courier.co.uk/turned-saw-pink-headed-duck-like-seeing-Elvis/story-25876104-detail/story.html#ixzz3R0AlIYGA |
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Post by Melanie on Feb 8, 2015 19:38:05 GMT
Richard Thorns' search for the Pink-headed Duck continues Hello everyone, Firstly, may I say that the picture accompanying this post for added interest is a male specimen from the Paris musée des sciences naturelles - a beautiful example of a pink-headed duck, but with no connection to Burma. I am now back from the jungle and can make a very short initial report regarding possible surviving pink-headed duck in Shwegu township, Kachin State. After a 5 day journey up the Ayerrawaddy, the lake was hard to find despite its size, because the locals knew it by another name. Also, to complicate matters further, it lay on the north side of the river and skirted territory that the K.I.A. regard as a stronghold of theirs. Nevertheless I decided that, as both the department of Immigration and the police had yet to visit me (even though I was the only westerner / Caucasian in the township) my profile was low enough for me to cross the river. My luck was in, in that a Burmese villager who worked with an ecology and preservation group / department spotted my tee shirt, which offered a one million kyat reward for evidence of live pink-headed duck(s). And so, with an assurance that::"I know everybody: police, immigration" and "No problem," and offering his services for the day for free (although I suspect this was more to do with the reward), we crossed the river. After taking tea with a retired (and badly bullet-scarred) ex-army sergeant, my guide borrowed a moped from his somewhere, and we set off. The trip took about 30 minutes before the lake came into view. It was bordered by thick jungle / deciduous forest and was very calm and clear; large enough to take two hours to walk around. It was home to a small fishing community who conversed with my guide (this is yet to be translated and is work in progress). We borrowed a log-canoe and spent a large amount of time asking fishermen about pink-headed duck, using flashcards. The boatmen on the lake indicated that ducks on the lake were: "no good" but there was a lagoon nearby which was a kind of overspill, I think, from the main body of water. We located this and found that it supported mature lilies and lotus flowers and was itself very large, and this sported large flocks of waterfowl. The main body of birds were only two species: this being spot-billed duck and red-crested pochard, yet no evidence of pink-headed duck. However, it does remain to be seen if the translations mean anything in today's context. I conclude that this is the last area in Kachin State near Bhamo Township that one can try. The only place now left is a large body of water that shows west of Kathar in Sagaing Division (below Kachin State) but it would, in my opinion, be something of a miracle if pink-headed duck were found to be occupying that location, where there has been no historical evidence of them ever having done so. My travels and searches have laid to rest suggestions by Birdlife International to show interest in modern-day "north of Banmaw," "Koolay, near Singu," where the last-but-one pink-headed duck was collected in 1908 and also this lake in Shwegu which Tony Htin Hla of B.A.N.C.A. recommended before his sad passing nearly two years ago. Going forward, therefore, with the search for the pink-headed duck, I would suggest the best areas now would be the area where the two mystery so-called 'Golden Ducks' were killed and eaten by the people of Chipwe, north of Myitkyina, This is because the 'golden' refers, it seems, to their status of being very beautiful and very rare, and only occurring mostly in pairs. For more on this you can YouTube " Which One's Pink? Trip IV: "Putting it all on Pink" which covered my trip through Nagaland (not ever previously surveyed for birds), and the conversation is near the end on the way back to Mandalay. My guide feels sure that this very reliable anecdotal evidence does indeed refer to pink-headed duck. But travel to this region is dependent upon peace between the K.I.A. and the Burmese government. Even with a ceasefire in place (whenever that may be although Burmese I have spoken to measure this in no more than two years hence), it is out of the question that the government would allow tourists there, unless it is with an organised tour (I have the contacts to do this). Lastly, in Burma, northwards towards Putao may also be of interest, the temperature is colder here, of course, but we do know of past records of pink-headed duck in the Kingdom of Bhutan and I believe in generally lowland Tibet. I have yet to research Arunachai Pradesh and Sikkim, but I shall do so. In the meantime, areas of India's Manipur state and Nagaland would be worth a look at. Assam of course should feature in this comment, but we have to be realistic about the urbanisation and population within this state. Finally, if you care to Google "Which One's Pink?" and can get past Pink Floyd, feel free to join my website and leave a comment. With all good wishes. The search continues! Richard Thorns. February 2015. www.facebook.com/groups/CRBirds/permalink/10152726755433507/ |
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Post by surroundx on Apr 19, 2015 6:50:16 GMT
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Post by surroundx on May 24, 2015 6:37:04 GMT
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Post by Melanie on Jun 23, 2015 20:43:51 GMT
An old newspaper article in The Times of India (1925) about a sighting of a Pink-headed duck  |
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Post by surroundx on Jul 5, 2015 8:57:59 GMT
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