Pink-headed Duck , critically endangered

Pink-headed Duck
Rhodonessa caryophyllacea
CR ( critically endangered)
12"x7"x7"
mixed media , hand sewn and beaded leather figure seated in hand made wooden chair
photograph by Bruce Mathews

Pink-headed Duck
Rhodonessa caryophyllacea
CR (critically endangered)

Unconfirmed sightings in the 1960s and again in 2004 in remote wetlands of the state of Kachin, Burma ( some call the country Myanmar) and the fact that large areas of Burma haven't been explored by ornithologists are the reasons why this duck is considered critically endangered instead of extinct. The last specimen in the wild was shot and killed in 1935 in Darbhanga Bihar, India. The last known captive duck kept in an aviary at Foxwarren Park, England died in 1945.

Historically the Pink-headed Duck's known habitat included northern Burma, north-east India, and central Nepal. Freshwater ponds, marshes, swamps, and wetlands surrounded by bushes, tall grasses, and subtropical forests provided aquatic plants and mollusks to eat and nesting areas. Swamps of the Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers in northern India have been drained, cultivated, and heavily populated, leading to the decline of the species in that area. Many forests in Burma are being heavily logged causing further stress on any of the ducks that might still be in this country.

The male Pink-headed Duck has a pink head and neck which has made it a sought after trophy by hunters through the years. The female has paler pink plumage on its head and neck. Not only does this pink coloration make this duck unlike any other duck, its pure white or pale yellow egg differs from all other duck's eggs by being almost perfectly spherical.

The Pink-headed Duck has always been considered as rare.