Tongli Celebrates Sighting of a Pair of Blue-headed Ducks; Global Population Under 1,000

Many people may not be familiar with the ‘Blue-headed Duck’. It is a critically endangered wild animal, rarer than the giant panda, with fewer than 1,000 individuals worldwide. Today (5th), two Blue-headed Ducks, one female and one male, were spotted in the Tongli National Wetland Park.

‘Blue-headed Ducks are difficult to see in Suzhou. They mainly inhabit wetlands. This is the first time Tongli National Wetland Park has detected Blue-headed Ducks.’ Mr. Zhou Minjun said, ‘Yesterday morning, I was conducting a routine monitoring in the wetland, and I saw a flock of ducks foraging in a reed bed. One of them had a deep blue head, white eyes, and brown-red feathers on its sides. After careful identification, Mr. Zhou Minjun confirmed that it was a male Blue-headed Duck, and the surrounding brown ducks were female Blue-headed Ducks.’

Mr. Zhou Minjun introduced that Blue-headed Ducks have very high requirements for their habitat. ‘This was the second time Blue-headed Ducks were detected in Wujiang in February 2020, the last time was in January, along the Taihu Lake.’ Mr. Zhou Minjun said, ‘This indicates that the ecological environment of Wujiang is improving steadily.’

It is known that Blue-headed Ducks belong to the order Anseriformes and the duck subfamily, and are a type of duck. They mainly breed in Siberia and Northeast China, and migrate to the Yangtze River Valley in China for winter. In recent years, due to habitat loss, overhunting, and human disturbance, the population of Blue-headed Ducks has declined sharply. Currently, the global population of Blue-headed Ducks is less than 1,000, so it is listed as a ‘Critically Endangered’ species on the ‘Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature.’

Reporter Sun Sici | Photography He Qing | Editor Wei Huan | Editor Lü Shengcheng Jingang