Pink-headed Duck Rhodonessa caryophyllacea Scientific name definitions

This spectacular, unique duck is sadly likely to have become extinct sometime during the twentieth century. However, Pink-headed Duck remains something of an enigma, and mystery surrounds it to this day, with many retaining hope that a population may yet be located in remote areas of Myanmar. Noted for its unusual coloration as early as the late 1700s (when it was first described), Pink-headed Duck was known through the 1800s from specimens collected in various parts of the northern and eastern Indian Subcontinent (modern-day India and Bangladesh, in particular). Specimens were collected from Uttar Pradesh in the west to Assam and Manipur in the east, and southwards along the eastern coast of India to the border between modern-day Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. In the early 1900s, it was also collected in Myanmar. In most of these areas, however, it was extremely rare, and only occasionally collected during the winter. The core of its breeding range appears to have been a restricted area of modern-day Bihar and West Bengal between the Kosi and Ganges rivers in India (especially Purnea and Malda districts), possibly extending into adjacent western Assam and Bangladesh.

The little available evidence suggests that Pink-headed Duck primarily foraged at night, inhabiting the reed-fringed lowland jheels of the Gangetic floodplain. It's unusual, nearly spherical eggs were noted for their exceptional shape, and are known from a very small number of nests observed during the late 1800s. From the early 1900s (and likely considerably earlier), this already rare species appears to have declined severely, likely owing to massive habitat destruction in conjunction with hunting for food and as an ornamental bird. Relatively few specimens are known after the 1910s, with the last credible observation of a wild bird in Bihar in the mid-1930s. The species lingered on in captivity, however, both in India and England, where birds were taken into captivity from the wild in the 1920s. These birds never bred, and the last known individuals died out in the 1940s. Since then, there have been no reliable reports of this bird, though numerous unconfirmed reports exist. Most of these are likely the result of misidentification, but searches continue in areas of potentially suitable habitat in northern Myanmar, giving it a near-mythical status among ornithologists and birders. Until one of these searches results in a confirmed rediscovery, though, this beautiful anatid must be considered a likely casualty of massive anthropogenic changes to its specialized habitat.