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Species accounts

The following pages contain information on the current conservation status of all goose and swan species in the UK. Please select a species or population from the summary below, or the menu to the left.

Species	Global Status¹	AEWA Status²	UK Status³	Population (Flyway)⁴	Population (GB⁵ or NI⁶)	GB Trend	Productivity
Mute Swan	Least Concern	C1	Amber	31,700 (breeding)	37,500⁵	≈	variable
Bewick’s Swan	Least Concern	A3c	Amber	20,000	8,070⁵	↓	5-25%
Whooper Swan	Least Concern	A2	Amber	20,900	5,720⁵	↑	10-20%
Bean Goose	Least Concern	B1	Amber	fabalis: 70,000 - 90,000 rossicus:600,000	fabalis: 400⁵ rossicus: 100⁵	≈	moderate?
Pink-footed Goose	Least Concern	B2a	Amber	270,000	241,000⁵	↑	15-20%
European White-fronted Goose	Least Concern	C1	Amber	1,000,000	5,790⁵	↓	13-32%
Greenland White-fronted Goose	Least Concern	A3a	Amber	27,000	20,900⁵	↓	10-20%
Iceland Greylag Goose	Least Concern	B1	Amber	87,200	81,900⁵	≈	10-20%
Northwest Scotland Greylag Goose		-	Amber	9,600	9,620⁵	↑	20-30%
Re-established Greylag Goose		-	Amber	-	28,500⁵	↑	24%
Greenland Barnacle Goose	Least Concern	B1	Amber	56,400	45,000⁵	↑	6-13%
Svalbard Barnacle Goose	Least Concern	A2	Amber	27,000	22,000⁵	≈	<5%
Dark-bellied Brent Goose	Least Concern	B2b	Amber	200,000	98,100⁵	↓	0-31%
Canadian Light-bellied Brent Goose		A2	Amber	26,400	26,673⁶	↑ *	1-30%
East Atlantic Light-bellied Brent Goose		A1c	Amber	7,000	2,900⁵	≈	5-31%

* Canadian Light-bellied Brent Goose trend is for Northern Ireland.

From the menu to the left you can also access information on non-native waterbird species established in the UK.

References

¹ IUCN. 2008. 2007 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Online database:
http://www.iucnredlist.org

² Convention of Migratory Species. 1999.
http://www.unep-aewa.org/documents/agreement_text/eng/agree/agree_text.htm

³ Gregory, RD, NI Wilkinson, DG Noble, JA Robinson, AF Brown, J Hughes, DA Procter, DW Gibbons & CA Galbraith. 2002. The population status of birds in the United Kingdom, Channel Islands and Isle of Man: an analysis of conservation concern 2002-2007. British birds 95: 410-450.

⁴ Wetlands International 2006. Waterbird Population Estimates - Fourth Edition. Wetlands International, Wageningen, The Netherlands.

⁵ Kershaw, M & PA Cranswick. 2003. Numbers of wintering waterbirds in Great Britain, 1994/1995-1998/1999: 1. Wildfowl and selected waterbirds. Biological Conservation 111:91-104.

⁶ Austin, GE, MP Collier, NA Calbrade, C Hall & AJ Musgrove. 2008. Waterbirds in the UK 2006/07: The Wetland Bird Survey. BTO/WWT/RSPB/JNCC. Thetford.

WWT home | JNCC home

The Goose & Swan Monitoring Programme (GSMP) monitors numbers and productivity of geese and swans in the UK during the non-breeding season. GSMP is organised by WWT on behalf of WWT and JNCC.

Email: monitoring@wwt.org.uk