White-winged Duck

The white-winged duck is a secretive, mostly nocturnal duck that prefers standing and slow-flowing wetlands in evergreen, deciduous or swamp forests, where it depends on holes in old trees for roosting and nesting. These preferences have led to a dramatic population decline due to destruction, degradation, and disturbance of suitable riverine forest habitat. Only 1,000 individuals are estimated to remain today, and these small and highly fragmented populations are highly vulnerable to extinction. In Cambodia about 100 individuals persist in scattered locations, most often inhabiting seasonal watering holes (trapeang) and pools in rivers (anlong) within Semi-Evergreen and Evergreen Forest. This species was recently camera-trapped from Phnom Prich Wildlife Sanctuary and a small, though significant, population .is likely to occur along rivers within evergreen forest patches.