Tuesday 21 May
In the News: First crane egg in the western UK in four centuries

What’s the World’s Favourite Species?
Find out here.| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Aves |
| Order | Anseriformes |
| Family | Anatidae |
| Genus | Cairina (1) |
This large, dark, forest duck has white wings when open, with only small patches of white visible when the wings are closed. Most of the body is a dull brown, but the head and upper neck are speckled with white, more densely on females than males. Juveniles are duller and browner than adults (2).
Found singly or in pairs, the white-winged duck is active mainly at dusk and dawn, feeding on seeds, vegetation, fish and other animal matter, as well as on aquatic snails, spiders and insects. It undergoes an annual moult in September or October and is flightless for a fortnight, moving into more densely forested swamps for protection from predators.
Breeding occurs during the late dry season, when the female lays up to 16 eggs in a nest constructed in a tree hole, fork or hollow between three and twelve metres above the ground. Incubation lasts 33 days, and hatching is timed with the start of the heavy seasonal rainfall. The chicks disperse after 14 weeks of parental care (4).
TopLost from many areas within its former range (4), the white-winged duck now has a patchy distribution across India and Southeast Asia (1).
TopInhabits slow-flowing streams or rivers and swamps within forested areas. The white-winged duck nests in tree holes during the day and has been seen around paddy fields (4).
TopThe white-winged duck is classified as Endangered (EN) on the IUCN Red List 2007 (1) and is listed on Appendix I of CITES (3).
TopAll populations found outside protected areas are believed to be at risk of extinction within 25 years, due to habitat loss. Wetland drainage for land, hydropower development, fragmentation, and deliberate burning all contribute to this projected loss. However, even populations found within protected areas are not free from risk. They are frequently hunted for their good quality meat and often suffer from disturbance and habitat contamination by pollution and pesticides (4).
TopWhilst the white-winged duck is legally protected from hunting and egg collecting across its range, enforcement of this protection is lacking. Education programmes have been implemented and proposed conservation measures include strengthening control of exploitation, habitat management and control of pollution (4).
TopFor further information on the white-winged duck see:
Authenticated by BirdLife International.
http://www.birdlife.org
More »Related species
Image credit
© Joe Blossom / www.photoshot.com
NHPA/Photoshot Holdings Ltd
29-31 Saffron Hill
London
EC1N 8SW
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7421 6003
Fax: +44 (0) 20 7421 6006
sales@photoshot.com
http://www.photoshot.com
Link to this photo
Embed this ARKive thumbnail link by copying and pasting the code below.
Terms of Use - The displayed thumbnail may be used as a link from your website to ARKive's online content for private, scientific, conservation or educational purposes only. It may NOT be used within Apps.
Read more about
MyARKive
MyARKive offers the scrapbook feature to signed-up members, allowing you to organize your favourite ARKive images and videos and share them with friends.
Terms and Conditions of Use of Materials
Copyright in this website and materials contained on this website (Material) belongs to Wildscreen or its licensors.
Visitors to this website (End Users) are entitled to:
End Users shall not copy or otherwise extract, alter or manipulate Material other than as permitted in these Terms and Conditions of Use of Materials.
Additional use of flagged material
Green flagged material 
Certain Material on this website (Licence 4 Material) displays a green flag next to the Material and is available for not-for-profit conservation or educational use. This material may be used by End Users, who are individuals or organisations that are in our opinion not-for-profit, for their not-for-profit conservation or not-for-profit educational purposes. Low resolution, watermarked images may be copied from this website by such End Users for such purposes. If you require high resolution or non-watermarked versions of the Material, please contact Wildscreen with details of your proposed use.
Creative commons material
Certain Material on this website has been licensed to Wildscreen under a Creative Commons Licence. These images are clearly marked with the Creative Commons buttons and may be used by End Users only in the way allowed by the specific Creative Commons Licence under which they have been submitted. Please see http://creativecommons.org for details.
Any other use
Please contact the copyright owners directly (copyright and contact details are shown for each media item) to negotiate terms and conditions for any use of Material other than those expressly permitted above. Please note that many of the contributors to ARKive are commercial operators and may request a fee for such use.
Save as permitted above, no person or organisation is permitted to incorporate any copyright material from this website into any other work or publication in any format (this includes but is not limited to: websites, Apps, CDs, DVDs, intranets, extranets, signage, digital communications or on printed materials for external or other distribution). Use of the Material for promotional, administrative or for-profit purposes is not permitted.