A rare Mandarin duck has been spotted floating in the Maguri-Motapung beel (or wetland) in Assam’s Tinsukia district.
- It was first spotted on February 8, 2021 by Madhab Gogoi, a Tinsukia-based birder and tour guide.
- The Mandarin duck (Aix galericulata), which is considered the most beautiful duck in the world, was first identified by Swedish botanist, physician and zoologist Carl Linnaeus in 1758.
- The migratory Mandarin duck breeds in Russia, Korea, Japan and northeastern parts of China. It now has established populations in Western Europe and America too.
- The bird was last sighted in this part of Assam more than a century ago, in 1902.
- Recently, it was sighted in Manipur’s Loktak Lake in 2013, and in Saatvoini Beel in Manas National Park and Tiger Reserve in Assam’s Baksa district 2014.
