Mandarin Duck (Aix galericulata), a colourful migratory duck was spotted at a wetland in the outskirts of Imphal by a group of wildlife photographers.
According to experts, the migratory duck was native to east Asia, but has established feral populations throughout western Europe.
“One of our senior members spotted the waterbird first at Lamphelpat wetland and later we joined to take the pictures,” Oken Sanasam, a young and energetic wildlife photographer who was part of the team, said on Monday. “The photograph of the lone waterbird was first taken (by Jogamani Sharma) on February 11 morning.”
Experts state that this waterbird does not usually visit India and it is native to East Asia.
The colourful duck was last reported in Assam (India) on February 2, 2021.
On hearing the news of sighting the waterbird which is considered as the most beautiful duck in the world, state’s well known environmentalist Dr. Kh Shamungou expressed his happiness and said, ‘it is good to see such waterbirds which rarely visits the state.”
Shamungou, a retired science teacher also informed that one such duck was once caught at Sugnu (Chandel District) in 1997 and the bird was kept in captivity at Manipur Zoological Garden. But it didn’t live long.
According to a 2014 paper by researchers Raju Kasambe and RK Birjit in Manipur, “There are handful of records, mostly historical, of this species from northeastern India .C Gimson and Capt WL Neal had shot two males and two females of Mandarin Ducks in a stream in Mayangkhang valley, Manipur at an altitude of about 3500 feet (=1050m) on 03 March 1934(Gimson 1934).”
"Manipur valley is hardly visited by birdwatchers and hence it is likely that the duck is more frequent than it has been reported till now (thrice in Manipur, five times in north-eastern India). However, we feel the need to document this straggler record of the species as reports are still scarce," the paper said.
Meanwhile, sharing a photograph of the duck in a Facebook post on Monday, wildlife photographer Premjit Elangbam wrote: “One male was seen & photographed in Jawa Lamjao, Toubul near Loktak on 11 December, 2013 during Important Bird Areas Survey jointly conducted by BNHS & Manipur Forest Dept while another one caught at Wangoo Naodakhong near Ithai Barrage in 2021 by local fishermen and at present it is in captivity in Manipur Zoological Garden.”
However a lone Mandarin duck was also reported from eastern Assam while three others in Arunachal Pradesh’s Dirang valley this winter, according to Dr. Anwaruddin Choudhury, a retired bureaucrat and naturalist in Assam.
“The frequency of sighting these ducks has slightly increased in the recent past,” he felt.