Seven endangered White-winged (Wood) Ducks (Cairina scutulata) swim in a small forest pool deep inside Nameri Tiger Reserve in Assam. Seven forms a substantial percentage of perhaps not more than 1000 individuals left in the world! Dibru-Saikhowa Biosphere Reserve and Nameri Tiger Reserve, both in Assam, form the strongholds of this bird in India.
This forest duck is listed as Endangered because it has a very small and fragmented population which is undergoing a very rapid and continuing decline as a result of the loss of and disturbance to riverine habitats. The duck is an inhabitant of forest pools and thickly vegetated water bodies in or adjacent to forests. It is also found in meandering slow rivers in forests. It has a wide distribution from NE India (Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya and Nagaland), to Bangladesh, eastward to Indonesia.
India is an important range country for this species and a special programme should be started for the conservation of the breeding population population of this endangered species which is already small and very fragmented.
Courtesy:
- ‘Threatened Birds of India – Their Conservation Requirements’ by Dr Asad R Rahmani.
- BirdLife factsheet.
CI is a non-profit, non-commercial portal that aims to facilitate wildlife and nature conservation by providing reliable information and the tools needed to campaign effectively.
Chosen as 'Picture of the Week'
India is an important range country for this species and a special programme should be started for the protection and conservation of the breeding population of this endangered species which is already small and very fragmented.