White Wing Wood Duck

White wing wood duck Extensive white wing patches most noticeable when the bird is in flight.

White wing wood duck. When swimming the head jerks back and forth much as a walking pigeon s does. It was once distributed widely across north east india and south east asia. The white winged duck or white winged wood duck asarcornis scutulata is a large species of duck formerly placed in the genus cairina muscovy duck and allied with the dabbling ducks. They have an angular head and a white band near the bill tip wood duck medium sized perching duck males have an iridescent green and white crested head red eyes red and white bill chestnut breast golden flanks and.

White winged ducks are among the world s most endangered birds and are one of the biggest species of duck. Odd shy duck with a distinctly farmyard appearance. However mtdna cytochrome b and nadh dehydrogenase subunit 2 sequence analysis indicate that the anatomical similarity to the muscovy duck is deceiving. White wing wood duck.

Its average length is about 81 cms. White winged wood duck has white wings when open with only small patches of white visible when the wings are closed. When at rest or foraging predominantly dark with white patches in the wings and on the head. Their broad tail and short broad wings help make them maneuverable.

In india the duck is limited to assam and arunachal pradesh. But now only about 800 survive in the wild of which about 450 are present in india bangladesh and myanmar. Its body is black and its head is white and thickly spotted with black it has conspicuous white patches on its wings and orange or red eyes. It is the state bird of assam state in india.

In flight white wing coverts contrast with the rest of the wings. One of the most endangered birds in the world is the white winged wood duck cairina scutulata. Unlike most waterfowl wood ducks perch and nest in trees and are comfortable flying through woods.