BTO - Breeding Birds of the Wider Countryside: Mallard

MALLARD
Anas platyrhynchos

Conservation listings

Europe: no SPEC category (favourable conservation status in Europe, not concentrated in Europe)
UK: green

Long-term trend

UK, England: rapid increase

Distribution maps

Maps and statistics from British and Irish
atlases can be viewed here.

Status summary

Mallards have increased steadily in the UK since the 1960s, an increase that may have been contributed to by large-scale releases for shooting (Marchant et al. 1990). Winter populations have declined since the late 1980s (Pollitt et al. 2003), linked apparently to a decrease in continental immigration (Mitchell et al. 2002). Substantial and increasing numbers of Mallards, especially on WBS plots, originate from domesticated birds and do not resemble wild-type birds in plumage or behaviour.

Table of population changes for Mallard

Source	Period (yrs)	Years	Plots (n)	Change (%)	Lower limit	Upper limit	Alert	Comment
CBC/BBS UK	35	1967-2002	320	188	116	255
	25	1977-2002	413	62	35	86
	10	1992-2002	847	31	20	47
	5	1997-2002	1128	23	15	31
CBC/BBS England	35	1967-2002	270	210	142	283
	25	1977-2002	346	67	42	101
	10	1992-2002	708	34	21	46
	5	1997-2002	943	25	16	33
WBS waterways	27	1975-2002	59	192	121	282
	25	1977-2002	57	167	103	245
	10	1992-2002	25	31	15	48
	5	1997-2002	40	1	-5	8
BBS UK	9	1994-2003	943	24	16	33
BBS England	9	1994-2003	786	28	19	37
BBS Scotland	9	1994-2003	83	35	5	73
BBS Wales	9	1994-2003	53	-37	-54	-13	(>25)

Productivity information is not currently available for this species


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This report should be cited as: Baillie, S.R., Marchant, J.H., Crick, H.Q.P., Noble, D.G., Balmer, D.E., Beaven, L.P., Coombes, R.H., Downie, I.S., Freeman, S.N., Joys, A.C., Leech, D.I., Raven, M.J., Robinson, R.A. and Thewlis, R.M. (2005) Breeding Birds in the Wider Countryside: their conservation status 2004. BTO Research Report No. 385. BTO, Thetford. (http://www.bto.org/birdtrends) Pages maintained by Susan Waghorn and Iain Downie: Last updated 18 January, 2006