List of Anseriformes by population

The population of birds
Lists Anseriformes (waterfowl) Apodiformes (swifts and hummingbirds) Caprimulgiformes (nightjars and relatives) Charadriiformes (gulls and relatives) Ciconiiformes (storks and relatives) Columbiformes (doves and pigeons) Coraciiformes (kingfishers and relatives) Cuculiformes (cuckoos and relatives) Falconiformes (falcons and relatives) Galliformes (gamebirds) Gaviiformes (loons or divers) Gruiformes (cranes and relatives) Passeriformes (perching birds) Pelecaniformes (pelicans and relatives) Phoenicopteriformes (flamingos) Piciformes (woodpeckers and relatives) Podicipediformes (grebes) Procellariiformes (albatrosses and petrels) Psittaciformes (parrots) Sphenisciformes (penguins) Strigiformes (owls) Struthioniformes (ratites) Tinamiformes (tinamous) Trogoniformes (trogons and quetzals)
Key Conservation status   Extinct in the wild (EW)   Critically endangered (CR)   Endangered (EN)   Vulnerable (VU)   Near threatened (NT)   Least concern (LC)   Data deficient (DD)
Related Lists of organisms by population Lists of mammals by population Late Quaternary prehistoric birds List of extinct birds Lists of birds by region

This is a list of Anseriformes species by global population. While numbers are estimates, they have been made by the experts in their fields.

Anseriformes (Anser being Latin for "goose") is the taxonomic order to which the ducks, geese, swans, and screamers belong. BirdLife International has assessed 166 species; 89 (54% of total species) have had their population estimated. A variety of methods are used for counting waterfowl. For example, in North America, national and sub-national agencies use planes and helicopters to make aerial transects of breeding populations, and extrapolate these counts over the species' known ranges. Methodologies are continuously being refined; thus estimates can be expected to become more accurate over time. Forecasts can be made by studying habitat condition trends and by interviewing local experts.^[1] For more information on how these estimates were ascertained, see Wikipedia's articles on population biology and population ecology.

The first bird in this list, the crested shelduck, retains a status of Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List but may in fact be extinct. The last confirmed reporting was in 1964 near Vladivostok. North Korea claimed a sighting in March 1971, but this record is highly suspect. Unconfirmed reports do, however, periodically roll in from Northeast China, giving scientists hope that the last individual has not yet died.^[2] To be assessed as Critically Endangered a species must have experienced a decline of at least 80% in the past ten years or three generations, or be projected to decline that much in the future ten years or three generations.^[3] As some species below are rapidly approaching their minimum viable population (MVP), the future may see their removal from the list and addition to the preceding paragraph.

Extinct species:

• Réunion shelduck, the last of which had been hunted by 1710;^[4]
• Mauritian shelduck, which was plentiful in 1681 and extinct in 1698;^[5]
• Amsterdam duck, reported to be the favourite dish of Île Amsterdam's five resident sealers until 1793;^[6][7]
• Mauritian duck, which was found in "great numbers" in 1681 and last reported in 1696;^[8]
• Mariana mallard, a pair of which would not breed at SeaWorld and which has not been encountered since the death of the last individual there in 1981;^[9]
• Finsch's duck, once the most abundant waterfowl species in New Zealand;^[10]
• Labrador duck, which has not been seen in northeast North America since 1875;^[11]
• Auckland merganser, all searches for which have been for naught since the last recording in 1902.^[12]

Species by global population

Common name	Binomial name	Population	Status	Trend	Notes	Image
Crested shelduck	Tadorna cristata	50[2]	CR[2]	Unknown[2]	Estimate is a likely maximum.[2]
Madagascar pochard	Aythya innotata	50[13]	CR[13]	[13]	Maximum estimate; recently rediscovered.[13]
Brazilian merganser	Mergus octosetaceus	50 – 249[14]	CR[14]	[14]	Estimate is for mature individuals only; numbers may be higher.[14]
Campbell teal	Anas nesiotis	150 – 300[15]	EN[15]	[15]
Baer's pochard	Aythya baeri	250 – 999[16]	CR[16]	[16]
White-winged duck	Cairina scutulata	350 – 1500[17]	EN[17]	[17]
Laysan duck	Anas laysanensis	521[18]	CR[18]	[18]
Auckland teal	Anas aucklandica	600 – 2000[19]	VU[19]	[19]	Estimate is for mature individuals only.[19]
Bernier's teal	Anas bernieri	1500 – 2500[20]	EN[20]	[20]
Blue duck	Hymenolaimus malacorhynchos	1800[21]	EN[21]	[21]
Brown teal	Anas chlorotis	1900[22]	NT[22]	[22]
Meller's duck	Anas melleri	2000 – 5000[23]	EN[23]	[23]
Hawaiian duck	Anas wyvilliana	2200[24]	EN[24]	[24]
Nene	Branta sandvicensis	2500[25]	VU[25]	[25]
Bronze-winged duck	Speculanas specularis	2500 – 9999[26]	NT[26]	[26]
Northern screamer	Chauna chavaria	2500 – 9999[27]	NT[27]	[27]
Salvadori's teal	Salvadorina waigiuensis	2500 – 20 000[28]	VU[28]	[28]
Scaly-sided merganser	Mergus squamatus	3600 – 6800[29]	EN[29]	[29]	Estimate is rough; further research needed.[29]
New Zealand scaup	Aythya novaeseelandiae	5000 – 10 000[30]	LC[30]	[30]
Philippine duck	Anas luzonica	5000 – 10 000[31]	VU[31]	[31]
Chubut steamer duck	Tachyeres leucocephalus	5300 – 5600[32]	VU[32]	[32]
White-headed duck	Oxyura leucocephala	7 900 – 13 100[33]	EN[33]	[33]
Maccoa duck	Oxyura maccoa	9 000 – 11 750[34]	NT[34]	[34]
Andean teal	Anas andium	10 000 – 19 999[35]	LC[35]	[35]
Blue-winged goose	Cyanochen cyanoptera	10 000 – 25 000[36]	VU[36]	[36]
Coscoroba swan	Coscoroba coscoroba	10 000 – 25 000[37]	LC[37]	[37]
Orinoco goose	Neochen jubata	10 000 – 25 000[38]	NT[38]	[38]	Estimate is for mature individuals only.[29]
Spotted whistling duck	Dendrocygna guttata	10 000 – 25 000[39]	LC[39]	[39]
Flying steamer duck	Tachyeres patachonicus	11 000 – 26 000[40]	LC[40]	[40]
Freckled duck	Stictonetta naevosa	11 000 – 26 000[41]	LC[41]	[41]
White-backed duck	Thalassornis leuconotus	12 000 – 28 000[42]	LC[42]	[42]
Cape Barren goose	Cereopsis novaehollandiae	16 000 – 18 000[43]	LC[43]	[43]
Blue-billed duck	Oxyura australis	18 000[44]	NT[44]	[44]
Hartlaub's duck	Pteronetta hartlaubii	26 000 – 110 000[45]	LC[45]	[45]
Lesser white-fronted goose	Anser erythropus	28 000 – 33 000[46]	VU[46]	[46]
Eaton's pintail	Anas eatoni	31 200 – 41 400 [47]	VU[47]	[47]	Has not been estimated since the 1980s; numbers have probably declined.[47]
Red-breasted goose	Branta ruficollis	37 000[48]	EN[48]	[48]	Minimum estimate.[48]
Ruddy-headed goose	Chloephaga rubidiceps	43 000 – 82 000[49]	LC[49]	[49]
Marbled duck	Marmaronetta angustirostris	50 000 – 55 000[50]	VU[50]	[50]
Masked duck	Nomonyx dominicus	50 000 – 499 999[51]	LC[51]	[51]
Muscovy duck	Cairina moschata	50 000 – 499 000[52]	LC[52]	[52]
Swan goose	Anser cygnoides	60 000 – 90 000[53]	VU[53]	[53]
Mandarin duck	Aix galericulata	65 000 – 66 000[54]	LC[54]	[54]
Emperor goose	Chen canagica	85 000[55]	NT[55]	[55]	Minimum estimate.[55]
Falcated duck	Anas falcata	89 000[56]	NT[56]	[56]	Minimum estimate.[56]
Black swan	Cygnus atratus	100 000 – 1 000 000[57]	LC[57]	[57]
Smew	Mergellus albellus	130 000[58]	LC[58]	[58]	Minimum estimate.[58]
Cotton pygmy goose	Nettapus coromandelianus	130 000 – 1 100 000[59]	LC[59]	[59]
Ruddy shelduck	Tadorna ferruginea	170 000 – 220 000[60]	LC[60]	Unknown[60]
Whooper swan	Cygnus cygnus	180 000[61]	LC[61]	Unknown[61]	Minimum estimate.[61]
Pacific black duck	Anas superciliosa	180 000 – 1 200 000 [62]	LC[62]	Unknown[62]
Harlequin duck	Histrionicus histrionicus	190 000 – 380 000[63]	LC[63]	[63]
Lesser whistling duck	Dendrocygna javanica	200 000 – 2 000 000[64]	LC[64]	[64]
Surf scoter	Melanitta perspicillata	250 000 – 1 300 000[65]	LC[65]	[65]
Tundra swan	Cygnus columbianus	300 000[66]	LC[66]	Unknown[66]	Minimum estimate.[66]
Spectacled eider	Somateria fischeri	330 000 – 390 000[67]	LC[67]	[67]
Velvet scoter	Melanitta fusca	380 000[68]	EN[68]	[68]
Red-breasted merganser	Mergus serrator	510 000 – 610 000[69]	LC[69]	[69]
Black scoter	Melanitta americana	530 000 – 830 000[70]	NT[70]	[70]
Brant goose	Branta bernicla	560 000[71]	LC[71]	Unknown[71]	Minimum estimate.[71]
Common shelduck	Tadorna tadorna	580 000 – 710 000[72]	LC[72]	[72]
Mute swan	Cygnus olor	600 000 – 610 000[73]	LC[73]	[73]
West Indian whistling duck	Dendrocygna arborea	600 000 – 610 000[74]	VU[74]	[74]
White-winged scoter	Melanitta stejnegeri	600 000 – 1 000 000[75]	LC[75]	[75]
King eider	Somateria spectabilis	790 000 – 930 000[76]	LC[76]	[76]
Spot-billed duck	Anas zonorhyncha	800 000 – 1 600 000[77]	LC[77]	[77]
Cackling goose	Branta hutchinsii	920 000 – 1 400 000[78]	LC[78]	Unknown[78]
Magpie goose	Anseranas semipalmata	1 000 000[79]	LC[79]	[79]
Rosy-billed pochard	Netta peposaca	1 000 000[80]	LC[80]	[80]
Grey teal	Anas gracilis	1 000 000 – 1 100 000[81]	LC[81]	[81]
Greylag goose	Anser anser	1 000 000 – 1 100 000[82]	LC[82]	[82]
Black-bellied whistling duck	Dendrocygna autumnalis	1 100 000 – 2 000 000[83]	LC[83]	[83]
Bufflehead	Bucephala albeola	1 200 000[84]	LC[84]	[84]	Minimum estimate.[84]
Greater scaup	Aythya marila	1 200 000 – 1 400 000[85]	LC[85]	[85]
Fulvous whistling duck	Dendrocygna bicolor	1 300 000 – 1 500 000[86]	LC[86]	[86]
Common scoter	Melanitta nigra	1 600 000[87]	LC[87]	Unknown[87]
Common merganser	Mergus merganser	1 700 000 – 2 400 000[88]	LC[88]	[88]
White-faced whistling duck	Dendrocygna viduata	1 700 000 – 2 800 000[89]	LC[89]	[89]
Common pochard	Aythya ferina	2 200 000 – 2 500 000[90]	LC[90]	[90]
Common goldeneye	Bucephala clangula	2 500 000 – 4 600 000[91]	LC[91]	[91]
Garganey	Anas querquedula	2 600 000 – 2 800 000[92]	LC[92]	[92]
Tufted duck	Aythya fuligula	2 600 000 – 2 900 000[93]	LC[93]	[93]
Eurasian wigeon	Anas penelope	2 800 000 – 3 300 000[94]	LC[94]	[94]
Common eider	Somateria mollissima	3 100 000 – 3 800 000[95]	LC[95]	Unknown[95]
Gadwall	Anas strepera	3 200 000 – 3 800 000[96]	LC[96]	Unknown[96]
Northern pintail	Anas acuta	5 300 000 – 5 400 000[97]	LC[97]	[97]
Northern shoveler	Anas clypeata	5 500 000 – 6 000 000[98]	LC[98]	[98]
Long-tailed duck	Clangula hyemalis	6 200 000 – 6 800 000[99]	VU[99]	[99]
Mallard	Anas platyrhynchos	19 000 000[100]	LC[100]	[100]	Minimum estimate.[100]

See also

• Lists of birds by population
• Lists of organisms by population
• List of duck breeds

References