Harteman Wildfowl - Baer's pochard

Baer's pochard

Male.

Aythya baeri
Dutch: Baer's witoogeend

Baer’s Pochard declines accelerating?
2005 - From the Globally Threatened Bird Forums @ BirdLife.org
The Baer’s Pochard is currently listed as Vulnerable (A2c,d; A3c,d) because it is undergoing rapid declines. It is thought that hunting and wetland destruction are the key causes. The following is summarised from recent correspondence on the Oriental Birding list-serve.
M. Barter (in litt. 2005) reported that the 2005 WWF waterbird survey of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze in Feb 2005 recorded only eight Baer’s Pochards (out of 636,000 waterbirds).
P. Round (in litt. 2005) noted that “About 15 years ago, one could rely on there being 100 or more Baer's Pochards in Bung Boraphet, Nakhon Sawan Province, Central Thailand, at any point in the winter (and our largest count was, I seem to remember, 426 at Bung Boraphet with another 170 at a second site in January 1988). I'd be hard pushed to find any Thai sightings of more than 20 birds from any Thai site in the last decade (and numbers per site are usually much lower, now: 4 or 5 at the most”.
J, Hornskov (in litt. 2005) commented: “Regular birding on the Hebei coast, China, now hardly ever yields sightings of Baer's Pochard on migration; it would be reasonable to assume that even if the ducks had gone into hiding on the wintering grounds they would still be using the old migration routes. My own best count for Beijing's Summer Palace, then more than now a key site for ducks, was 116 in March 1988. The 2003 China Bird Report list no Baer's Pochards at all for Beijing or Hebei Province…. Much of its breeding range has suffered prolonged draught…On visits to Manchuria in search of Jankowski's Bunting in October 2003 and May 2004 it was evident that little remained of the formerly extensive wetlands in the reserve we visited. In October 2003 we visited a nice little reedy pool where we were told 1-2 pairs of Baer's Pochard still bred - something to look forward to, but by May 2004 it had completely dried up. On the reserve, measures were under way to remedy the draught by artificially flooding one section, for starters. This had attracted an enjoyable diversity of birds, including 550 Baikal Teal (their presence a surprise to reserve staff), but we didn't find a single Baer's Pochard.”
N. Moores (in litt. 2005) commented “Although probably always a rather scarce species in South Korea, Baer's Pochard appears to be getting even scarcer. Despite a great increase in observer activity here over the past few years (with now several records annually of Red-crested Pochard and three records of Ferruginous Duck in the past 4 winters for example), there has been no corresponding rise in observations of Baer's, rather the species is now barely recorded annually. If they are shifting their wintering distribution and/or migration routes, it seems not to be through South Korea at least.”
P. Thompson noted “The evidence from the other main wintering area - here in Bangladesh - seems to support the views on a serious decline. There are two main wetland complexes in NE Bangladesh where they were recorded in good numbers in 1992 (about 700) and 1993 (about 1700) - Hakaluki Haor and Tangua Haor and neighbouring beels. In both this winter and last I counted some of the main beels in Hakaluki Haor without finding any, total duck numbers were also down on some of the earlier years. However, I haven't been to the Tangua area for some time. Recent duck counts there during surveys have been much higher than the early 1990s…. there are no significant alternative wetlands in the country that are suitable that they could have moved to.”
These reports are of great concern. If the global population declines are now estimated to exceed 50% in the last ten years, then this species would warrant uplisting to Endangered (A2c,d; A3c,d). Recent information from elsewhere in the species’s range, particularly the breeding grounds in SE Russia and NE China and wintering grounds in north-east India and Myanmar, would be welcome.