Falcated Duck - migrant bird, near threatened category of IUCN
Q. The recently sighted Falcated Duck in Goa comes under which category of IUCN?- Published on 25 Feb 16a. Endangered
b. Near Threatened
c. Critically endangered
d. Least Concern
ANSWER: Near Threatened
- A species is Near Threatened when it has been evaluated against the criteria but does not qualify for Critically Endangered, Endangered or Vulnerable now, but is close to qualifying for or is likely to qualify for a threatened category in the near future.
- The greatest threat faced by this species globally is the loss of habitat and hunting. Loss of habitat in their winter migratory region is also a cause for concern. Recent estimates have put the world population of this species to be just about 89,000 individuals.
- The Falcated duck is a regular winter migrant to the northern States of India. They breed in Russia and north China in summers and migrates towards north of India in winter. Some individuals though are known to move further south. There are two reports of this species from south of India. The first was reported from Tamil Nadu in 2012 while in January 2015 a single individual was reported from Akola in Maharashtra. Recently it was sighted in Goa.
