Assam’s State Bird White-Winged Wood Duck On Verge of Extinction

08 Nov,2023

Credit: Google Images

The white-winged wood duck is popularly known as Deo-Hah in the state of Assam because of its ghostly calls.

Credit: Google Images

Credit: Google Images

The white-winged wood duck is popularly known as Deo-Hah in the state of Assam because of its ghostly calls.

Declared as the state bird of Assam in 2003, sadly its conservation situation has not improved in recent years. 

Credit: Google Images

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has listed the white-winged wood duck (Asarcornis scutulata) as endangered since 1994.

Credit: Google Images

A recent study to assess the impacts of climate change and the potential distribution of the white-winged wood duck in the Indian Eastern Himalayan (IEH) region for the 2050s and 2070s revealed that the species would lose 436.61 square kilometres of highly potential habitat by 2070.

Credit: Google Images

The researchers discovered that changes in precipitation patterns during the wettest months (June to September), combined with a decrease in precipitation during the warmest quarter (October to December), would lead to further habitat loss. 

Credit: Google Images

Furthermore, by 2070, the temperature rise would result in the extinction of many potential habitats in Tripura and Nagaland.

Credit: Google Images