Description
The male Pink-headed Duck is unmistakable when a good view is had. 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). 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. Young birds had a nearly whitish head without a trace of pink and a mellow two note call wugh-ah has been attributed to the species.
Its breeding habitat is lowland marshes and pools in tall-grass jungle. The nest is built amongst grass. The eggs, six or seven in a clutch, are very spherical and creamy white. The eggs measure 1.71 to 1.82 inches long and 1.61 to 1.7 inches wide. They were believed to have been non-migratory and found singly or in pairs and very rarely in small groups. Pink-headed Ducks are believed to have eaten water plants and molluscs. Like Netta species, they typically up-ended or dabbled for food and did not dive like a pochard.
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