How Colonial Rule Deprived India Of One Of Its Most Beautiful Birds - The Pink-Headed Duck

Painting of the pink-headed ducks. Image credit: Subbuka via Wikimedia Commons.

A bird that once graced the wetlands of India with its charming presence is now no more, and we, Indians, are hardly even aware of it. It is the pink-headed duck - a mysteriously elusive bird whose males, with their deep pink heads and necks and rosy pink bills, were a magical sight to behold in the misty wetlands of India. The last reliable sighting of the bird was in the 1930s, and since then, although there have been sporadic reports of its sightings, none could be accepted as reliable evidence was lacking. Moreover, during the bird's last years in India in colonial times, its rarity made it a prized game bird and one to be captured alive and kept in zoos and menageries in India and abroad. Such merciless treatment of this already rare bird possibly cemented the path to its complete disappearance from the country.

A Bird From Another World

Pink-headed ducks (female and male) as illustrated by Henrik Gronvold. 

The pink-headed duck (Rhodonessa caryophyllacea) was never too common, although it was widely distributed in South Asia. Seeing these birds who appeared and vanished within a flash was sheer luck. It was almost as if they had arrived from some other world by an act of magic. 

Map showing the former distribution of the bird with the help of the dots. Map generated using BirdSpot (birdspot.googlepages.com) using data from mainly BirdLife red data report records. Image credit: Shyamal, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons 

Most records of these birds come from India, especially the northeast, while their presence has been occasionally recorded in Myanmar, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Bhutan. Those fortunate enough to see them, never found them in large numbers but solitary, in pairs, or in small groups. Swamps, marshes, freshwater ponds, dense reed beds, and lagoons near rivers in lowland areas were the preferred habitats of these birds, who were not found in flowing water bodies. 

While the males stood out with their vibrant pink colour, females adorned a paler pink colour on their bills, neck, and head. The bird would breed in marshes and pools with grass cover and lay their eggs, about six to seven spherical ones in a clutch. Molluscs and aquatic plants were their possible food sources.

Where Did They Go?

Painting by Bhawani Das, of a living specimen in the collection of Lady Impey, circa 1777. This accurately records the colour of the legs. Image credit: Musavir Bhawani Das, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Prior to the arrival of the British and their rule in India, the land was still very wild, with massive forested tracts and wetland habitats brimming with wildlife, including the Bengal tiger. Human habitation in such areas was sparse, and the pink-headed ducks also possibly thrived. With the entry of the British and the implementation of their policies, all changed. 

With their new-age weaponry, tools, and techniques, the British now set upon a mission to clear the dense Indian jungles to make way for large-scale agriculture and other commercial activities to reap maximum profits on the Indian soil. Wetlands and grasslands were drained and heavily exploited for human use. Hunting now became uncontrolled. The British and a section of Indians who supported the British, including some Indian rulers, both launched large-scale hunts frequently, where everything from birds to large mammals began to be killed. No mercy was shown to India's wildlife, and many species, including the Bengal tiger, were pushed to the brink. The pink-headed duck was no exception.

There are reports of this duck being shot in the last two decades of the 19th century. It was hunted throughout the year, possibly just for pleasure, as its meat was believed to be not too good for the taste buds. Also, some traits of the bird, like its non-migratory nature and its possible moulting in autumn that made it flightless for a brief period, could have made it even more vulnerable to hunting and habitat loss threats. 

Who Saw The Last Bird?

A preserved specimen of the pink-headed duck. Image credit: Huub Veldhuijzen van Zanten/Naturalis Biodiversity Center via Wikimedia Commons.

April 7, 1923, was possibly when the last pink-headed duck specimen was collected for preservation in Darbhanga, Bihar. Later, it was kept in the Yale Peabody Museum in Connecticut, US. There are, however, some doubts raised about the exact date. There are also some records of skins from 1924, but the dates are highly questionable.

In the later years, there are records of specimens being shot or observed but not preserved, with the last most reliable observation being that of a trapped male in Darbhanga, Bihar, in 1935. Another observation of the bird in West Bengal's Burdwan district in 1939 by J. Jameson could also be treated as somewhat acceptable. In the later years, sporadic reports of hunting of the pink-headed ducks or their observation in India came up occasionally but could not be confirmed due to a lack of reliable evidence. From the 1930s to 1960, there was also a significant reward set up for anyone who would provide physical evidence of the presence of the pink-headed duck, but no one claimed the reward, making the claims of shootings or observations of the bird during this period highly unreliable. 

Also, what was quite shocking was how, even upon the realisation that the pink-headed duck was rare and possibly on the brink, the British administration did nothing to conserve the species! Moreover, any time the bird was seen, it was either shot or trapped alive to be sent to zoos or private collections. Nothing was done to protect the pink-headed duck in its natural habitat, and there was no law forbidding its hunting.

But what happened to the birds that were made captive? They, too, did not survive as they failed to breed. Hence, the birds disappeared altogether from the face of Earth. Why, then, is the pink-headed duck still not declared extinct? It is the hope of some individuals that this extremely elusive bird is still somewhere out there, although we cannot see it, and also some anecdotal reports of the bird's sightings in Myanmar, that it is still on the Critically Endangered list.

The Search Is Still On

An 1847 illustration of the pink-headed duck.

For decades now, individuals obsessed with the pink-headed duck, its mysterious and almost mythical nature, and tales of beauty, have been searching for this bird. 

The first such major search began in 1960 in Bihar followed by Rory Nugent's search in Assam in 1991. Although Nugent reported sighting the bird, authorities did not accept his claims. Further surveys for the pink-headed duck continued in different parts of its former range, with one of the most recent ones being by Englishman Richard Thorns in Myanmar in 2017. Thorns, captivated by the pink-headed duck's enchantment, dedicated his life to rediscovering it. After reading about this bird in a book, he left his job as a shop assistant and travelled to Myanmar at least six times, sometimes often risking his own life, and reached extremely remote and off-limits wetland habitats, hoping to catch a glimpse of the pink-headed duck for his longtime dream to come true!

As of now, however, for us Indians, who have only read and heard about the bird, the closest we can get to it is through the specimen of the bird preserved in the Bombay Natural History Museum's collection unit in Mumbai that was obtained during the colonial times. However, let us not totally give up. There have been occasions where long-lost species have been miraculously rediscovered. Hope the same happens with the pink-headed ducks, and until then, let us ensure that these birds, if somewhere out there, do have a safe and secure habitat to flourish further.

For further information:

A high price to pay: new light on the extinction of thePink-headed Duck Rhodonessa caryophyllacea

Written by: Dr. Oishimaya Sen Nag