Garganey Spatula querquedula
| BoCC5 | Amber |
|---|---|
| Occurrence category | Regular breeder |
| Abundance category | Rare |
| Population estimate | 120 breeding pairs |
| Estimate source | RBBP mean 2015-19 |
| 25-year trend | -6% |
| Trend category | Stable |
Male Garganey (Mark Eaton)
Figure: UK RBBP trend 1973-2018
This attractive migratory species can be difficult to monitor when it comes to breeding numbers. It can be difficult to determine whether birds are actually breeding – both due to their secretive nature, and the species’ status as a regular passage migrant. Therefore, breeding can only be usually only be confirmed when young are seen. However, Garganey do seem to be on the rise recently, with a 41% increase in the breeding population in the last ten years, although they have not quite returned to the high levels of the early 1990s.
Further information and links for Garganey
Extracts from RBBP reports, 1973-2017 (PDF file)
(Bespoke report extracts can be downloaded from our Explore Reports page)
Account from Bird Monitoring Handbook (Gilbert et al. 1998)
Distribution map from Bird Atlas 2007-11 (Balmer et al. 2013) (link to BTO Mapstore)