First spawning of 'Indian bred gray duck' found

Bountiful sign! First spawn of 'Indian bred gray duck' found in Huai Market Reservoir wild hunting ban zone

It's a great story of conservation! When the "Indian Grey Duck," a rare protected wildlife, chose the Huai Market Reservoir Forest Hunting Prohibition Zone, Buriram Mon, as a new home for breeding for the first time!

The Indian Spot-billed Duck is a large teal. The bill is black with a conspicuous yellow spot at the end of the mouth. The male and female look similar.

But the male is more colorful, greyish brown body, black hair, black eye band, shin and red feet, mouth cones with red spots, but not in some subspecies, found in the market creek reservoir wild hunting ban zone, no red spots. In flight, there is a glimpse of green wing bars against the conspicuous white edges.

It is a particularly colorful bird when it spreads its wings, found throughout South and Southeast Asia. In Thailand, it is found in the lower north and northeast. It is often found in small flocks or in pairs. It is a resident and migratory bird, living in pus, marshes and various bodies of water, swimming for food at night.

The daytime part is floating, resting, sometimes found standing along the water man or in the grass forest, eating small plants and aquatic animals, breeding during January to April, often nesting on the ground, hidden in vegetation near water sources, the female lays 7 - 12 eggs at a time, the eggs hatch for about 28 - 30 days, the ducklings stay with the mother for about 60 days.

For the first time, Indian gray ducks have been found to build egg-laying nests within the Huai Market Reservoir forest hunting ban area. In January 2026, 12 eggs were found near the county office, about 80 meters from the water source, and hatched from the eggs in early February. The nest area was heavily thicket, hard to notice the nests, two to three years earlier.

It was reported by officials that gray ducks were found laying eggs at the nearby Huai Mai Reservoir Wild Hunting Prohibition Zone, and last April a video of a gray duck mother and baby was videotaped by officials of the Airport Reservoir Wild Hunting Prohibition Zone, Pronchai District, an international wetland area of Buriram Province about 30 kilometers apart.

These circumstances show that Indian varieties of gray duck choose to mate, build nests, lay eggs in the conservation forest area of Buriram province, both originally just birds that migrated to Thailand during the off-winter breeding season, rare and in small quantities, so they are classified as protected wildlife by the Wildlife Reserves and Protection Act 2019. They are protected by law inside and outside the conservation forest area.

In addition, this bird is agile, highly vigilant, inaccessible. How safely a bird builds a nest to raise its young in the area guarantees the sustainability of long-term conservation of this wildlife.

Source: Huai Market Reservoir Wild Hunting Prohibition Zone, Buriram Mon. 7th Conservation Area Administration Bureau (Nakhon Ratchasima)

Reference:

Jarujint, Kan Nakkul, and Vajra Reserved Treasures. (2018). The Nature Study Guide, Doctor Merit, Sent Nakkul: Birds in Thailand (3rd printing). Bangkok.

Obhas. Boundary. (1998). Birds in Thailand. Volume 1. Department of Forest Biology, School of Science, University of Agriculture.

# Indian breed gray duck # Huai Market Reservoir Wild Hunting Prohibition Zone # Buriram # National Park Service # Protected wildlife