Unlike most of Britain’s ducks the Garganey is a summer visitor, arriving in early spring from its wintering grounds in Africa.
BirdTrack records show that the species is widely recorded in spring on lakes, marshes and wet meadows, but assessing the size of the breeding population is difficult owing to the birds’ secretive nature. An estimate of around 100 pairs makes this a rare duck, although the British population is important in a European context.
Male Garganey are striking, with their rich brown head and neck, long prominent curving white eyebrow and black and white plumes above neat grey flanks.
Select a topic for more facts and statistics about the Garganey
Garganey are small, striking ducks, but they are scarce and secretive summer visitors. They can turn up anywhere on passage and whilst the males are easy to identify the females and young birds are similar to the familiar Teal. This video helps you pick out Garganey from the crowd.
Listen to example recordings of the main vocalisations of Garganey, provided by xeno-canto contributors.
Call
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The Garganey is difficult to monitor as breeding occurs at extensive wetland sites where it is difficult to confirm, and the presence of pairs in suitable habitat may also relate to passage birds. RBBP data suggest that numbers have recently increased to a five-year mean of 120 pairs for the period 2015–2019, with numbers stable over the last 25 years but remaining slightly below the peak of 163 pairs in 1993 (Eaton et al. 2021).
Widely recorded in spring on lakes, marshlands and wet meadows, the Garganey is surely among the most difficult duck to census as a breeding bird. The breeding distribution map shows that records with breeding evidence were received from 199 10-km squares in Britain and 13 in Ireland. Favoured areas are around the Ouse Washes and nearby fenland sites, Norfolk Broads, Somerset Levels, northeast and northwest England coastlines.
Britain and Ireland Breeding Distribution 2008-2011. More from the Atlas Mapstore.
Britain and Ireland Winter Distribution 2008-2011. More from the Atlas Mapstore.
Garganey are localised summer visitor with a pronounced pattern of detection in spring and autumn bookending low detection during the breeding season; occasional birds winter.
Weekly occurrence patterns (shaded cells) and reporting rates (vertical bars) based on BirdTrack data. Reporting rates give the likelihood of encountering the species each week.
Movement
Information about movement and migration based on online bird portals (e.g. BirdTrack), Ringing schemes and tracking studies.
An overview of year-round movements for the whole of Europe can be seen on the EuroBirdPortal viewer.
It is unclear why Garganey numbers appear relatively stable in the UK. Conservation management and creation of new wetlands in order to support species including the Bittern may have helped ensure that the condition and availability of habitat for Garganey has remained favourable in the UK.
Links to more studies from ConservationEvidence.com
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