Pink-headed Duck

The pink-headed duck is a 41 to 43cm duck with a long bill and neck and a peaked head. The male has a pink bill, head and neck on a black body, with a narrow dark strip down the front of the neck, and the female has a paler pinkish head and neck. Its pink colour comes from a carotenoid pigment, which is unusual among ducks. It lived in lowland marshes and pools in tall-grass jungle, feeding on water plants and molluscs, and was usually seen singly or in pairs (Wikipedia, general species account).

It was recorded across the Gangetic plains and parts of Bihar, Maharashtra, Delhi, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh in India, and in Nepal, Bangladesh and the swamps of Myanmar. Nests were built among grass and held 6 to 7 nearly round creamy-white eggs. The last confirmed sighting was in June 1935 in Darbhanga, India, with Indian reports into the early 1960s; later claims and surveys in northern Myanmar from 2003 to 2017 were inconclusive. Its position is disputed: some researchers link it to the red-crested pochard, others keep it in its own genus (Wikipedia, general species account).