Abstract:
he Knob-billed Duck or African Comb Duck Sarkidiornis
melanotos was formally described to science from Ceylon
(now Sri Lanka) by Pennant (1769: 12). It disappeared and
was believed to be extinct from the island by the 1960s (Henry
1998; Harrison & Worfolk 1999). Ali & Ripley (1987: 48) indicated
the species as ‘Formerly sparse resident in Ceylon.’ Carboneras &
Kirwan’s (2020) global distribution map for the species does not
include Sri Lanka. The historical status of the duck in Sri Lanka is
dubious and must be interpreted through numerous subjective
statements. Legge (1880: 1064) wrote that the bird was ‘more
common than is generally supposed…’ and that it was first
described in Ceylon by Forster, ‘who erroneously states that it
is common in the hills’ (ibid.). Legge himself characterized the
status of the Comb Duck in the island as ‘… nowhere numerous,
it is found here and there in … the north and east …’ (ibid.).
Citing Layard, he wrote that it is ‘… not uncommon on the tanks
of the Vanni …’ (ibid.). Also citing one ‘Mr. Parker’ [= H. Parker],
(apparently based on Parker 1881, 1883) he wrote that the bird
is ‘tolerably common, but not plentiful, in the North-western
Province and in the Anaradhapura (sic) district …’ (ibid.). As for
breeding, Legge wrote that one Mr. Fisher found it breeding near
Yala (ibid.). The breeding season has been reported as February–
March in Sri Lanka (Legge 1880; Henry 1971; Weerathunga et
al. 2013). Based on these reports, we surmise that, prior to its
disappearance, the species was never common but occasionally
nested in the island. Young (2005: 392) indicated in the map
that the species occurs in Sri Lanka, although the text (p. 393)
says the contrary.
