Pink-eared DuckScientific name: Malacorhynchus membranaceus

Meaning of name: Malacorhynchus is from the Greek words malacos, meaning soft, and rhynchos, meaning beak. Membranaceus is from the Latin word membrana, meaning membrane.

Aboriginal name: Wimbin (wim’bin).

Distribution: Widespread but absent from the arid areas of Australia.

Description: Up to 45cm long with a 71cm wingspan.

Notes: The furthest distance recorded by the Australian Bird and Bat Banding Scheme for this species of bird to travel is 489km. The oldest bird recorded was recovered 1 year 3.9 months after being banded (information as at 14 June 2012).

The photographs for this species were not taken in the reserves of interest to the FQPB.

References: What Bird is That? Neville W Cayley. 1978

Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds. Various contributors.

Aboriginal names of bird species in south-west Western Australia, with suggestions for their adoption into common usage. Ian Abbott. 2009. Conservation Science Western Australia Journal. Volume 7 No 2  http://www.dpaw.wa.gov.au/about-us/science-and-research/76-publications-and-resources/103-conservation-science-wa-journal 

Australian Bird and Bat Banding Scheme http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/science/abbbs/abbbs-search.html