Rare 'Smew' Duck Spotted in Kaziranga: A Climate Warning?

Relevance: GS III (Environment & Biodiversity) | Source: The Hindu / Assam Forest Department

During a recent waterbird counting exercise in January 2026, wildlife experts spotted a very rare bird in Assam’s Kaziranga National Park.

The Rare Duck: The bird is a beautiful diving duck called the Smew (Mergellus albellus).
The Location: It was seen resting at the beels (local wetlands) inside the tiger reserve.
Why is it special? The Smew naturally lives far away in the freezing forests (taiga) of Europe and Northern Asia. It is extremely rare to see it travelling this deep into India.

Scientists refer to this Smew duck as a Vagrant species.

Wandering Off-Path: A vagrant is a bird or animal that has wandered completely outside its normal travel route or natural home.
The Good News: Seeing this duck proves that Kaziranga’s wetlands are highly healthy, safe, and full of fish.
The Bad News (Climate Warning): It is also a red flag. Experts worry that global climate change and habitat destruction are confusing these birds, forcing them to abandon their natural travel paths and seek new resting places.

When winter arrives, millions of birds fly from freezing regions like Siberia towards warmer countries like India.

The Travel Route: They use fixed, invisible routes in the sky called Flyways. India, and specifically Kaziranga, sits right in the middle of the Central Asian Flyway. Protecting these wetlands is crucial because they act as “refuelling stations” for these tired, long-distance travellers.
How Do We Protect Them? Because these birds travel across many different countries, no single nation can save them alone. To solve this, the world created the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS), widely known as the Bonn Convention.
India has signed this United Nations treaty, meaning we are legally committed to keeping these resting wetlands safe from hunting and pollution.

Concept	Explanation
Vagrant Species	A bird found completely outside its normal migration range, often pushed away by bad weather or changing climate patterns.
Indicator Species	Birds (like waterbirds) whose physical presence tells us that the wetland ecosystem is highly healthy and perfectly balanced.
Bonn Convention	A major global environmental treaty under the United Nations aimed strictly at protecting migratory animals and birds across their entire travel routes.

With reference to the conservation of migratory birds and wetlands in India, consider the following statements:

The Smew is a rare diving duck native to the Eurasian taiga that occasionally visits Indian wetlands as a winter migrant.
Kaziranga National Park is a critical wintering wetland located along the East Asian-Australasian Flyway.
India is a signatory to the Bonn Convention, which aims to conserve terrestrial, marine, and avian migratory species throughout their range.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 and 2 only

(b) 1 and 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

Correct Answer: (b)

Start Yours at Ajmal IAS – with Mentorship StrategyDisciplineClarityResults that Drives Success

Your dream deserves this moment — begin it here.