Cornish Biodiversity Network  -  Supporting Wildlife Recording

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Cornish Red Data (2009)

The descriptive text, below the map, is from the Cornish Red Data Book (2009). The map on this web page depicts the organisms distribution and shows the records made pre-2000 and those made since.

Anas strepera - Gadwall



Range & Status

Holarctic; in Britain and Ireland there are 800 pairs breed; 17,500 in winter.

Regional Distribution

Cornwall: winter visitor in small numbers (50 in total), but numbers gradually increasing, the most favoured sites rarely holding more than ten birds. Isles of Scilly: up to 20 breeding pairs, mostly on Tresco and St. Mary' s, with 50-80 birds wintering. This is the only breeding site west of Dorset and winter numbers attain level of National Importance.

Habitat & Ecology

Favours shallow freshwater lakes, but becoming more regular on tidal estuaries in recent years, associating with Wigeon Anas penelope .

Threats

Vulnerable to disturbance. Ducklings are frequently predated by gulls on Scilly.

Conservation

Protected under Schedule 2, Part 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and Annexe 11/1 of the European Union Conservation of Wild Birds Directive. Listed (long list) as a globally threatened/declining species (BSGR, 1995).

Source:

I.J. Bennallick, S. Board, C.N. French, P.A. Gainey, C. Neil, R. Parslow, A. Spalding and P.E. Tompsett. eds. 2009. Red Data Book for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. 2nd Edition.Croceago Press.

The Cornish Red Data Book Project was led by the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Federation for Biological Recorders (CISFBR). The full text and species accounts (minus the maps) are available on the CISFBR website.



Cornish Biodiversity Network. 2017.