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BTO Blueline
GOOSANDER
Mergus merganser
 Goosander © Tommy Holden
 

• Population
  changes

• Productivity
  trends

• Additional
  information
Conservation listings
Europe: no SPEC category (favourable conservation status in Europe, not concentrated in Europe)
UK: green
Long-term trend
UK waterways: moderate increase
UK population size
2,600 (2,300–2,900) pairs in 1987 (Gregory et al. 1997: APEP06); 2,900–3,600 pairs in 2000 (updated using WBS trend: BiE04)
Status summary
Goosanders were first discovered to have colonised the UK in Perthshire in 1871, and spread from Scotland into northern England in the 1940s (Holloway 1996). Between the two breeding atlases, the species expanded its range in northern England, and colonised Wales and southwest England. WBS samples became large enough for annual monitoring in 1980, and showed sustained population increase, although this may now have levelled off. The BTO's two national surveys of sawbills demonstrated an average increase in population size of 3% per annum between 1987 and 1997 (Rehfisch et al. 1999). Reasons for the colonisation of the UK, and the subsequent range expansion and population increase, are unknown. The species' winter trend in Britain, comprising British breeders and continental visitors, rose steeply from the late 1960s to the mid 1990s, but subsequently began to decline (Calbrade et al. 2010).
 
WBS UK graph

1981-2008: 82% (confidence interval 13% to 236%)

 
Population changes in detail
 
Demographic trends
 
Additional information
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This report should be cited as: Baillie, S.R., Marchant, J.H., Leech, D.I., Renwick, A.R., Joys, A.C., Noble, D.G., Barimore, C., Conway, G.J., Downie, I.S., Risely, K. & Robinson, R.A. (2010). Breeding Birds in the Wider Countryside: their conservation status 2010. BTO Research Report No. 565. BTO, Thetford. (http://www.bto.org/birdtrends)

Pages maintained by Iain Downie, Mandy T Andrews and Laura Smith: Last updated 04.10.2010