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Family ANATIDAE, swans, geese and ducks

Bewick's Swan, Cygnus bewickii

This swan is breeding in the Eurasian tundra, from the Finno-Russian border to Central Siberia. The birds breeding West of the Taymyr Peninsula are wintering mainly in Denmark, the Netherlands, England and Ireland. A few birds also reach the Rhone Delta in southern France. Elsewhere the species is of only very occasional occurrence during strong winters. The total population visiting Western Europe is estimated at 17000 individuals, and seems to be stable (Tucker & Heath, Scott & Rose).

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Whooper Swan, Cygnus cygnus

This swan is breeding in the boreal regions of Eurasia, from Iceland and Scotland to Kamchatka. Three distinct populations visit the European Union. The first one involves the birds of Iceland, wintering in the British Isles and reaching probably Denmark and the Netherlands. It is estimated at 16000 individuals, and seems to be stable. The second population includes the birds of Scandinavia, Finland and Western Russia. Its winters mainly in Denmark and northern Germany (Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenburg). It is estimated at 59.000 individuals, and has probably increased three times since 1970 (Laubch & al.). The third population is breeding in western Siberia and wintering mainly in the Black Sea area. It is estimated at 17000 individuals, and is probably declining (Scott & Rose). A few birds belonging to this population regularly reach northern Greece (Handrinos & Akriotis).

NUTS

MIN

MAX

R

Scotland

2

3

C

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White-fronted Goose, Anser albifrons (see also Annex 2)

This goose is breeding in the tundra of northern Eurasia and North America. Its nominate race can be hunted, and is included in Annex II. The race flavirostris is included in Annex I, however. Its breeding grounds are along the West Coast of Greenland, and it is wintering in the British Isles. After a strong decline during the 1960’s and 1970’s, its population has strongly increased and amounts again 30000 individuals (Scott & Rose, 1996).

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Lesser White-fronted Goose, Anser erythropus

This goose is breeding from northern Scandinavia to north-eastern Siberia. Its European population is wintering west and south of the Black Sea and south of the Caspian Sea. It has undergone a dramatic decline during the last 50 years, and the breeding population of Sweden and Finland is now totalling less than 20 pair (EBCC Atlas of European Breeding Birds). The reasons for this are not well known, but include increasing disturbance in the breeding areas, unsustainable hunting and loss of habitat in wintering areas. Some birds wintering currently in the Netherlands belong to a reintroduction project in Swedish Lapland (von Essen, 1991)

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Barnacle Goose, Branta leucopsis

This goose has three distinct populations (Scott & Rose). The first one, estimated at 32000 individuals, is breeding in Greenland and wintering in Ireland and north-western Scotland. The second, estimated at 12000 individuals, is breeding on Svalbard and wintering in south-western Scotland. The third population, estimated at 176000 individuals, is breeding on the arctic coasts of Russia and Novaya Zemlaya and wintering mainly in northern Germany and in the Netherlands. Since 1971 this species is also breeding in the Baltic Sea (Sweden, Finland and Estonia) where its population amounted to more than 2000 breeding pairs in 1994 (EBCC Atlas of European Breeding Birds). All populations have considerably increased since the 1950’s, thanks to a better protection of their habitats and a reduced hunting pressure.

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Red-breasted Goose, Branta ruficollis

This species is breeding in the tundra of northern Russia, more precisely on the Taymyr, Gydan and Yamal peninsulas. It used to winter in large numbers South of the Caspian Sea, and was known from Egypt and Iraq. Since the 1940’s and 1950’s it has shifted its winter quarters to south-eastern Europe, however, mainly to Romania and Bulgaria. It also appears irregularly and in small numbers in Hungary, Greece and Turkey. Its global population amounts to about 70000 individuals, but only a few dozens or hundreds of birds (maximum 2000) are visiting the European Union, particularly northern Greece (Handrinos & Akriotis, Scott & Rose). Following the strong decline in the wintering areas South of the Caspian Sea the species was considered as endangered (Collar et al. 1994, Green 1996), but the discovery of large wintering populations in Romania makes this conclusion unlikely or exaggerated. In fact the actual trends of this species are still unknown (EBCC Atlas of European Breeding Birds).

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Ruddy Shelduck, Tadorna ferruginea

wpe9.jpg (23940 bytes) A bird with a very fragmented distribution from north-western Africa and south-eastern Europe to Central Asia, as far East as Lake Baykal and Mongolia. A small population also exists in Ethiopia. The birds of north-western Africa formerly also used to visit southern Spain in winter, but in this country observations are currently only sporadic (Atlas de las Aves de España). In the European Union the species is today only occurring in Greece. These birds belong to the population of the Black Sea and Eastern Mediterranean, which has undergone a strong decline during the twentieth century, but seems currently to be quite stable. It is estimated at 20000 individuals (Scott & Rose).

o

NUTS

MIN

MAX

R

Anatoliki Makedonia, Thraki

25

C

Kentriki Makedonia

5

15

C

Notio Aigaio

5

C

Voreio Aigaio

10

30

C

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Marbled Duck, Marmaronetta angustirostris

wpe8.jpg (24694 bytes) This duck has a strongly fragmented distribution covering north-western Africa, the Iberian Peninsula, the eastern Mediterranean region, Turkey and the Persian Gulf area, the Caspian Sea, Pakistan, northern India and western China. Northern populations move to the South in winter, but their movements are poorly understood since the species is quite nomadic. As to the species globally, the populations of the western Mediterranean have strongly declined during the last decades. They are estimated at not more than 3000 individuals, 30-100 of which are still breeding in Spain (Scott & Rose). The few birds seen in Greece (Handrinos & Akriotis) belong to the eastern Mediterranean population, estimated at 1000 individuals (Scott & Rose). The decline of this species is linked to the massive destruction of its habitats, over-hunting and pollution (Scott & Rose).

o

NUTS

MIN

MAX

R

Andalucia

175

C

Castilla la Mancha

1

10

C

Comunidad Valenciana

13

29

C

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Ferruginous Duck, Aythya nyroca

wpeA.jpg (24972 bytes) This diving duck has a wide distribution in the temperate regions of Eurasia, from the Iberian Peninsula and the Baltic coast to Mongolia and south-western China. Its European population, estimated at 10000 individuals, is mainly wintering in the Mediterranean regions and in western sub-Saharan Africa. Its population of the European Union is strongly fragmented or even relict. In 1995 it could be estimated at 340-560 breeding pairs, but everywhere this bird is still declining (Tucker & Heath).

o

NUTS

MIN

MAX

R

Nederland

0

1

C

Baden-Württemberg

4

20

C

Bayern

4

20

C

Brandenburg

3

10

C

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern

0

5

C

Niedersachsen

1

5

C

Sachsen

4

20

C

Corse

0

1

C

Calabria

3

8

C

Emilia Romagna

3

8

C

Lazio

3

8

C

Lombardia

0

1

C

Puglia

3

8

C

Sardegna

3

8

C

Sicilia

3

5

C

Umbria

3

8

C

Veneto

3

8

C

Castilla la Mancha

1

5

Comunidad Valenciana

1

5

Anatoliki Makedonia, Thraki

30

50

C

Dytiki Makedonia

50

100

C

Ipeiros

5

20

C

Kentriki Makedonia

40

100

C

Kriti

1

2

C

Sterea Ellada

10

C

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White-headed Duck, Oxyura leucocephala

wpe17.jpg (24004 bytes) This duck has a strongly fragmented distribution from the Iberian Peninsula and Tunisia to the Black Sea, the Caspian Sea, the Persian Gulf and Central Asia. Some populations are sedentary. Others migrate, but their movements are poorly understood. The Spanish population declined from 400 individuals in 1950 to 22 in 1977. More recently it increased again to about 700 individuals thanks to strong protection efforts (Scott & Rose). The birds seen during the winter in Greece (Handrinos & Akriotis) belong to the population of the eastern Mediterranean, Turkey and south-western Asia, estimated at 8000-15000 individuals (Scott & Rose). Notwithstanding the recent increase in Spain and the apparent stability of the more eastern populations, this species is considered as being endangered, because of its strong decrease since the beginning of the twentieth century. This decline is mainly due to massive habitat destruction and over-hunting (Scott & Rose). Since a few years the Spanish population is also threatened by hybridisation with the Ruddy Duck, Oxyura jamaicensis, an introduced species from America (Atlas de la Aves de España).

NUTS

MIN

MAX

R

Andalucia

500

I

Comunidad Valenciana

1

2

C

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Last update : 06/10/06