Spain’s mission to save the White-headed Duck

The beautiful White-headed Duck is a compelling species. Keen birdwatchers are always eager to catch a glimpse of its distinctive blue bill or stiff tail. Its larger, eastern population in Asia is shrouded in mystery: the precise breeding and wintering grounds of tens of thousands of birds counted in Kazakhstan remains unknown. This population is also migratory, travelling long distances from Siberia to the Middle East, whereas the smaller western Mediterranean population resident in Spain, Algeria and Tunisia is more sedentary and far more closely studied. Sadly, what unites these populations is their IUCN listing as globally ‘Endangered’.

Back in the 1970s, the Spanish population of White-headed Duck was brought to the verge of extinction following the severe destruction of its wetland habitats and unsustainable hunting. A count in 1977 recorded just 22 individuals, confined to a single lagoon in Córdoba, Andalucía. Conservationists sprang into action: hunting at the lagoon site was made illegal and habitat restoration measures were implemented, including vegetation regeneration and the removal of harmful non-native species. Slowly but surely, the species began to recover, progressively spreading first to the neighbouring provinces of Sevilla and Cádiz and then on to Almería and Toledo. By 1988, more than 400 birds could be counted and today that number has rocketed up to 2,500 individuals across 13 Spanish provinces.

The spectacular recovery of the White-headed Duck in Spain is an inspiring example of what can be achieved by a well-coordinated Species Action Plan (SAP), grounded in science and supported by local authorities and community groups. But success in one country usually isn’t enough to turn things around for a whole species worldwide. That is why BirdLife has been leading the LIFE EuroSAP project with the goal of elaborating SAPs for sixteen iconic species on an international scale, spanning 65 countries and three continents. The White-headed Duck, still Endangered globally, was selected to be one of the target species, with SEO/BirdLife Spain coordinating efforts to identify threats and conservation measures to feed into an updated international SAP.

Read on  

Rare and endangered duckling hatches in Sussex

Louis the ducking, hatched in Sussex this weekend, belongs to one of the most endangeed species of duck in the worlds

SUS-180429-111246001 Published: 11:18 Sunday 29 April 2018 Updated: 15:03 Monday 30 April 2018

A duckling belonging to one of the rarest and most endangered species of birds in the world has hatched in Sussex this weekend. Louis, a baby white-headed duck, was hatched at the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT) centre in Arundel yesterday (April 28) - but is already being treated as a VIP by the dedicated WWT staff.

After hatching, Louis was sent on his way to the main trust’s main duckery at WWT Slimbridge Wetland Centre in Gloucestershire , escorted in style by the WWT Arundel Centre Manager Tim McGregor. Eventually Louis may return to live at WWT Arundel but he will be sporting a big blue bill like his dad who lives in the Reed Swamp exhibit at Arundel Wetland Centre with other ducks from Kazakhstan, Turkey, Iran and Afghanistan.

Read more at: 

Tagging the elusive White-headed Duck

14 Nov 2017

Danara Zharbolova and Alyona Koshkina from our Kazakh partner ACBK tell us about their first attempts to catch and tag the elusive White-headed Duck with geolocators out on the lakes of the Central Kazakhstan.

The White-headed duck Oxyura leucocephala, with its long tail (often cocked vertically) and striking blue bill, is an unmistakable sight – if you are actually lucky enough to spot one out in the wild. European populations have markedly declined in the last 10 years due to habitat loss, making this famously elusive waterbird even more of a rarity. It is classified globally Endangered by the IUCN Red List. Due to its furtive behaviour and rarity, this species has not been studied extensively. In recent years, BirdLife and several of its partners have been working to change this. In 2015, the White-headed duck was selected as one of sixteen iconic European bird species for the EU-funded LIFE EuroSAP project which aims to address population decline on a continental scale. SEO-BirdLife Spain, together with AEWA (The African-Eurasian Waterbird Agreement), has been coordinating efforts to identify threats and conservation measures to feed into a revised International Species Action Plan.

At the same time, BirdLife’s Kazakh partner ACBK (Association for the Conservation of Biodiversity of Kazakhstan) has been working to learn more about the migration of the Central Asia population which nests mainly in Northern and Central Kazakhstan and the steppes of Southern Russia.

Read on  

Saving a rare duck an urbanization dilemma

2016-10-09 09:42

CCTV Editor: Feng Shuang 

Urbanization often pits development against the environment. And in Xinjiang, one of the victims is the white-headed duck. The duck is one of the rarest birds in the world. Bird-Life International, the world's largest nature conservation partnership, estimated in 2008 that the duck's world population was only somewhere between 8,000 to 13,000. A small group of these ducks have been found at a small lake, just ten kilometers from the regional capital Urumqi.

In today's episode, reporter Han Bin meets a group of conservation volunteers. Their struggle with local developers and ordinary people, will decide the fate of this endangered species in China.

Hidden among the densely populated urban areas, is a small patch of wetland. The lake is home to some one hundred species of birds. At least one of them is under threat.

"The white-headed duck is on the world's list of endangered species. It's not been registered in China, so cannot be protected by law. It's also a star species, as it's the prototype of Disney's Donald Duck," Yan Xi, volunteer from Wild Xinjiang, said.

"How can we have such a fine-looking species? -with a white head, blue bill, and stiff tail," Da Xiang, volunteer from Wild Xinjiang, said.

This habitat provides the ducks with the resources to reproduce. But someone else wants their home. Construction is rapidly eroding the wetland.

There have been so many vehicles, people who go to the lake for outings, or even to play with slingshots.

Yan Xi and Da Xiang belong to a group of local volunteers who have appointed themselves the ducks' protectors. Their short-term goal is to have all 24 ducks make it to migration season at the end of October.

Read on