Pink-headed Duck

The male pink-headed duck is unmistakable in good view. Both sexes are 41–43 cm and long-billed with long necks and peaked heads. The male has a pink bill, head and neck while the female has a pale pinkish head and neck with a paler bill. The black of the body extends as a narrow strip on the front of the neck. Wings have a leading white edge. In flight it would not contrast as much as the syntopic white-winged duck. Wing does not have the dark trailing edge of the red-crested pochard. Confusion with male red-crested pochards stems mainly from observations of swimming birds, as the latter species also has a conspicuous red head (although the color is actually very different from the pink-headed duck). Indian spot-billed ducks, on the other hand, can look similar to female pink-headed ducks when in flight and seen from a distance, and if seen from behind, they could be mistaken for males too. The upper side of the wing is distinguishing, with dark green secondaries (speculum) and prominent white tertiaries in the spot-billed duck and a pinkish-beige speculum, much lighter than its surroundings, in the pink-headed duck. If the upper part of the wings cannot be reliably seen, they are all but indistinguishable except to expert observers in good visibility conditions. …

Allan Octavian Hume and Stuart Baker noted that the stronghold of the species was north of the Ganges and west of the Brahmaputra, mainly in Maldah, Purnea, Madhubani and Purulia districts of present-day Bihar. It was said to be commoner in Singhbum. Hume collected a specimen in Manipur which he noted was very rare, hiding among dense reeds in Loktak Lake. Edward Blyth claimed that it was found in the Rakhine state of Burma. Brian Houghton Hodgson obtained specimens from Nepal. A few records were also noted from Delhi, Sindh and Punjab. The populations (possibly) undertook local seasonal movements, resulting in scattered historic records as far as Punjab, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. Thus, resulting in rare sightings of the species in Maharashtra. Birds were also reported from the Oudh region some from very close to Lucknow. Specimens were shot at Najafgarh lake in the Delhi district. Jerdon obtained specimens of the bird from further south although he did not personally observe any in the wild until he visited Bengal.