Pink-headed duck

Pink-headed duck
Mounted specimen at National Museum of Scotland
CITES Appendix I (CITES)[2]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Anseriformes
Family: Anatidae
Genus: Rhodonessa
Reichenbach, 1853
Species:
R. caryophyllacea
Binomial name
Rhodonessa caryophyllacea
(Latham, 1790)[3]
Distribution of records of this species
Synonyms

Anas caryophyllacea
Fuligula caryophyllacea
Netta caryophyllacea
Callichen caryophyllaceum

The pink-headed duck (Rhodonessa caryophyllacea) is a large diving duck that was once found in parts of the Gangetic plains of India, Nepal, parts of Maharashtra, Bangladesh and in the riverine swamps of Myanmar but has been feared extinct since the 1950s. Numerous searches have failed to provide any proof of continued existence. It has been suggested that it may exist in the inaccessible swamp regions of northern Myanmar and some sight reports from that region have led to its status being declared as "Critically Endangered" rather than extinct.[1][4] The genus placement has been disputed and while some have suggested that it is close to the red-crested pochard (Netta rufina), others have placed it in a separate genus of its own. It is unique in the pink colouration of the head combined with a dark body. A prominent wing patch and the long slender neck are features shared with the common Indian spot-billed duck. The eggs have also been held as particularly peculiar in being nearly spherical.

  1. ^ a b BirdLife International (2018). "Rhodonessa caryophyllacea". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2018: e.T22680344A125558688. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22680344A125558688.en. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  2. ^ "Appendices | CITES". cites.org. Retrieved 2022-01-14.
  3. ^ Latham, John (1790). Index ornithologicus, sive Systema Ornithologiae; complectens avium divisionem in classes, ordines, genera, species, ipsarumque varietates: adjectis synonymis, locis, descriptionibus, &c. London: Leigh & Sotheby.
  4. ^ King, F. Wayne (1988). "Extant Unless Proven Extinct: The International Legal Precedent". Conservation Biology. 2 (4): 395–397. Bibcode:1988ConBi...2..395K. doi:10.1111/j.1523-1739.1988.tb00205.x.