Critically Endangered
White-winged Duck
Asarcornis scutulata
White-winged Duck is a bird in the family Anatidae (order Anseriformes) — Asarcornis scutulata, recorded as Critically Endangered.
Appearance
The Muscovy duck also attains sizes that nearly rival the white-winged duck, but may average a bit smaller in a wild state. Males have a mostly dull yellowish bill, blackish mottling on the head and upper neck, white lesser median coverts and inner edges of tertials, and bluish-grey secondaries. In flight, white wing-coverts contrast with the rest of the wings.
Length is 66–81 cm (26–32 in) and wingspan is 116–153 cm (46–60 in). Males weigh 2.94–3.9 kg (6.5–8.6 lb), while females weigh 1.95–3.05 kg (4.3–6.7 lb).
Published measurements include mass about 72.3.
Range and habitat
Historically the white-winged duck was widely distributed from northeastern India and Bangladesh, throughout South-East Asia to Java and Sumatra. Extant populations remain in India (eastern Assam and adjacent Arunachal Pradesh), Myanmar (chiefly along the Chindwin River in Sagaing and Kachin states), Indonesia (remnant populations on Sumatra), Thailand (very few wild birds in remote western forests, plus a reintroduced population at Phu Khieo Wildlife Sanctuary of uncertain viability), and Cambodia (now only at Preah Vihear). In India the main protected areas holding the species are Nameri National Park and the Dihing–Patkai complex, with smaller populations in Namdapha National Park and several reserved forests. The species has, even so, apparently disappeared from former strongholds such as Dibru-Saikhowa National Park and the Doomdooma–Dangori reserve forests, where large populations were recorded in the 1990s.
The species is held in some Asian institutions and by private aviculturalists, and a reintroduced population is regularly seen at Phu Khieo Wildlife Sanctuary, Thailand, although its long-term viability is unclear.
Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.
In crisis
In the October 2024 IUCN Red List update (version 2024-2), the white-winged duck was uplisted from Endangered to Critically Endangered under criteria A2bcde+3bcde+4bcde and C1+2a(i), reflecting a global decline of an estimated 70–90% over the past three generations (26 years. 1997–2023). It had previously been listed as Endangered continuously since 1994. The global population is estimated at 150–450 mature individuals, with the true figure most plausibly at the lower end of this range.
Approximate country totals from the 2024 assessment are: The rapid decline reflects loss, degradation and disturbance of forested riverine wetlands, compounded by hunting and collection of eggs and chicks. Threats vary by region: on Sumatra, near-total clearance of lowland forests for oil palm (and to a lesser extent rubber) plantations has been the principal driver, and was likely responsible for extirpation in Peninsular Malaysia and on Java.
CITES lists this taxon on Appendix I. Confirm the current appendix on the CITES checklist.
White-winged Duck is Critically Endangered on this catalog because that is the IUCN category stored on Wikidata. Confirm the official criteria and any later count on iucnredlist.org.
Sources
Written for this catalog from the English Wikipedia article on White-winged Duck, Wikidata item Q25495361. Family and order context is original field-guide writing about the group, not a copied assessment of this one species. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA. Not an IUCN assessment. Counts, when quoted, can change — confirm them on the recovery programme and on iucnredlist.org.
