• White-Winged Duck: Assam state zoo welcomes it's state bird 'Wood Duck'

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    White-Winged Duck: Assam state zoo welcomes it's state bird 'Wood Duck'

    Wildlife and nature lovers who have yet to view Assam's state bird, the White-Winged Wood Duck, in the wild. The Assam State Zoo now welcomes you to visit and appreciate the serene beauty.


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    If so, this is to be informed to all the wildlife and nature lovers who have yet to view Assam's state bird, the White-Winged Wood Duck, in the wild. The Assam State Zoo now welcomes you to visit and appreciate the serene beauty.

    Assam on Sunday received its state bird from the Czech Republic's Zlin Zoo. According to the reports of The Sentinel Assam, the birds arrived on a Qatar Airways flight with a stopover in Doha.

    The Zoo has recently received captive-bred pairs. The birds have been quarantined for 45 days, and it would require some time before the public can have a glimpse of them.

    The procedure of obtaining the bird began in 2019 on the other side of the world.

    According to Ashwini Kumar, divisional forest officer of the Assam State Zoo, this is the country's only Zoo with white-winged wood duck. It is locally known as "Deo hanh" because of its haunting night calls (Divine Duck).

    The bird has a black body, a white head with black spots, prominent white patches on the wings, and red or orange eyes. It has an average length of 81 cm. The sexes are nearly identical, with the male having more gloss on his plumage and being significantly larger and heavier than the female.

    It prefers impassable swampy environments generated by several rivers, streams, and other bodies of water and lives mainly in dense tropical evergreen forests. The duck is usually found in pairs or small groups of four to six people, while larger groups of more than ten have been observed. It prefers the shade and spends most of the day in hidden jungle ponds, occasionally perching on trees.

    It is a luminous bird, indicating the most active even during hours of dark and dawn. Adults ingest a diverse diet as they are mainly omnivorous. Plant and animal waste, aquatic plants, natural and produced plant seed, aquatic insects, crustaceans, mollusks, frogs, snakes, and fish make up the meal. During the summer, it breeds in the hollows of trees. The duck was first granted protection from hunting in 1937 when the Assam government (then under British authority) prohibited duck hunting during the nesting season (April to September) and outside of state-designated reserve forest areas.

    "The Union Ministry of Forests, Environment and Climate Change, the Assam Forest Department, and the Assam State Zoo have worked tirelessly to bring this dream to life," Kumar said.

    He said that the plan was the initiative of Tejas Mariswamy, a former divisional forest officer at the Assam State Zoo. He stated he needed a lot of clearances from various authorities at the state and national levels.

    Marketa and Roman Horska of Zlin Zoo expressed their delight that all of the birds were doing well and that working with all of the officials in Assam was a pleasure.

    Also Read:Assam: Kaziranga National Park witness highest surge in tourist footfall  

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