Myanmar: rare birds found, but not pink-headed duck

From BirdLife:

Pink-headed blank

18-07-2006

A fourth joint BirdLife/Biodiversity and Nature Conservation Association (BANCA – BirdLife in Myanmar [=Burma]) survey in Kachin State, northern Myanmar, has failed to find evidence of the continuing existence of the Pink-headed Duck Rhodonessa caryophyllacea.

“We followed up local reports, but all proved to be White-winged Ducks,” said expedition leader Jonathan Eames of BirdLife in Indochina.

“If the Pink-headed Duck was resident in Kachin, we surely would have found it by now. Perhaps it is indeed extinct or is only a visitor to the region.”

The team used elephants and boats to search the floodplain grasslands and ox-bow lakes along the Nat Kaung River, north of Kamaing and south of Shadusup.

Although no Pink-headed Ducks were found, several globally threatened species were recorded, including Green Peafowl Pavo muticus, White-winged Duck Cairina scutulata, Masked Finfoot Heliopais personata, White-rumped Vulture Gyps bengalensis, Slender-billed Vulture Gyps teniurostris, White-bellied Heron Ardea insignis and Lesser Adjutant Leptoptilos javanicus.

Large areas of apparently suitable habitat have now been surveyed in Kachin State, through a project funded by the UK government’s Darwin Initiative.

Undaunted, the team hope to survey areas further south in Myanmar where Pink-headed Ducks were historically recorded.

Lesser adjutant: here.

Dr Htin Hla, known to his many friends and colleagues simply as Tony, a leading figure in Burmese conservation has passed away at his home in Yangon aged 59: here.

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