Ignoring the doves and passerines sharing the habitat, the duck, amused to see a potential mate, bobs his head and lets out a series of shrill cries – resembling the honk of an ice-cream truck.

The female moves away just enough to signal indifference, but not rejection. That hint of interest is enough for him to continue the courtship ritual. Soon, she responds with head-bobbing and calls of her own.

These are not ordinary ducks. The elusive white-winged duck (Asarcornis scutulata) is thestate bird of Assam. Originating from the forested swamps of South and South East Asia, with a historic range as far as Bhutan and parts of Indonesia, they only reveal their large wingspan – up to 153 cm (5 feet) – and white underwings when in flight.

Typically calm during the day, their calls echo through forests at dusk, earning them the name “deo hans” – Assamese for “spirit ducks”.

“We don’t know their feeding and mating patterns and the ducklings’ survival rates [in the wild],” said Aftab Ahmed, a biologist at the Wildlife Trust of India, a non-profit wildlife conservation organisation. “We don’t know much about their basic ecology, and most information is anecdotal. It is challenging to do systematic studies as they are very difficult to locate and track.”

What little we do know about...

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