Mandarin Duck

About

- Considered the world’s most colorful waterfowl, the Mandarin duck (Aix galericulata) is a migratory avian species native to east Asia, primarily China but has established populations throughout Western Europe.
- The Mandarin duck breeds in eastern Siberia, China, and Japan and winters in southern China and Japan.
- The mandarin ducks breed in densely wooded areas near shallow lakes, marshes or ponds.

Mandarin Duck

Why in news?

A campaign to give up airguns and other firearms used for hunting has made a ‘Chinese’ visitor return to Arunachal Pradesh after a year.
The bird was sighted on the man-made Siikhe Lake in the Lower Subansiri district’s Ziro Valley.
This was the second appearance of the species in the Ziro Valley. The bird was sighted for the first time in the state on February 20 last year.
Launched more than a year ago, the abhiyan has led to people in the State giving up more than 2,000 airguns and other firearms.

News in detail

The Mandarin duck had visited eastern Assam and Arunachal Pradesh in 2021 after a gap of 108 years. The bird was sighted on Manipur’s Loktak Lake in 2013 and in western Assam’s Manas National Park in 2014.
The ducks came last year in Ziro, Dirang [western Arunachal Pradesh] and Maguri-Motapung wetland in Assam.
The arrival of the Mandarin duck for two consecutive years indicates that Siikhe Lake has perhaps become a regular winter migration site for the species.
This is a welcome development for the State that enacted the ‘Pakke [site of a tiger reserve] declaration’ aimed at mitigating the effects of climate change and also preserving the endangered species of flora and fauna in Arunachal Pradesh.
Deemed as one of Arunachal Pradesh’s most beautiful high-altitude valleys, Ziro is known for an array of rare moth and butterfly species such as the Kaiser-i-Hind, Apatani glory, Bhutan glory, Brown gorgon and Paris peacock.

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