List of Anseriformes by population

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. 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. 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. 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;
• Mauritian shelduck, which was plentiful in 1681 and extinct in 1698;
• Amsterdam duck, reported to be the favourite dish of Île Amsterdam's five resident sealers until 1793;
• Mauritian duck, which was found in "great numbers" in 1681 and last reported in 1696;
• 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;
• Finsch's duck, once the most abundant waterfowl species in New Zealand;
• Labrador duck, which has not been seen in northeast North America since 1875;
• Auckland merganser, all searches for which have been for naught since the last recording in 1902.

Species by global population

Common name	Binomial name	Population	Status	Trend	Notes	Image
Crested shelduck	Tadorna cristata	50	CR	Unknown	Estimate is a likely maximum.	175px
Madagascar pochard	Aythya innotata	50	CR		Maximum estimate; recently rediscovered.
Brazilian merganser	Mergus octosetaceus	50 – 249	CR		Estimate is for mature individuals only; numbers may be higher.
Campbell teal	Anas nesiotis	150 – 300	EN
Baer's pochard	Aythya baeri	250 – 999	CR			175px
White-winged duck	Cairina scutulata	350 – 1500	EN			175px
Laysan duck	Anas laysanensis	521	CR
Auckland teal	Anas aucklandica	600 – 2000	VU		Estimate is for mature individuals only.	175px
Bernier's teal	Anas bernieri	1500 – 2500	EN			175px
Blue duck	Hymenolaimus malacorhynchos	1800	EN			175px
Brown teal	Anas chlorotis	1900	NT			175px
Meller's duck	Anas melleri	2000 – 5000	EN
Hawaiian duck	Anas wyvilliana	2200	EN			175px
Nene	Branta sandvicensis	2500	VU
Bronze-winged duck	Speculanas specularis	2500 – 9999	NT			175px
Northern screamer	Chauna chavaria	2500 – 9999	NT			175px
Salvadori's teal	Salvadorina waigiuensis	2500 – 20 000	VU
Scaly-sided merganser	Mergus squamatus	3600 – 6800	EN		Estimate is rough; further research needed.	175px
New Zealand scaup	Aythya novaeseelandiae	5000 – 10 000	LC			175px
Philippine duck	Anas luzonica	5000 – 10 000	VU
Chubut steamer duck	Tachyeres leucocephalus	5300 – 5600	VU			175px
White-headed duck	Oxyura leucocephala	7 900 – 13 100	EN			175px
Maccoa duck	Oxyura maccoa	9 000 – 11 750	NT			175px
Andean teal	Anas andium	10 000 – 19 999	LC			175px
Blue-winged goose	Cyanochen cyanoptera	10 000 – 25 000	VU			175px
Coscoroba swan	Coscoroba coscoroba	10 000 – 25 000	LC			175px
Orinoco goose	Neochen jubata	10 000 – 25 000	NT		Estimate is for mature individuals only.	175px
Spotted whistling duck	Dendrocygna guttata	10 000 – 25 000	LC			175px
Flying steamer duck	Tachyeres patachonicus	11 000 – 26 000	LC			175px
Freckled duck	Stictonetta naevosa	11 000 – 26 000	LC
White-backed duck	Thalassornis leuconotus	12 000 – 28 000	LC
Cape Barren goose	Cereopsis novaehollandiae	16 000 – 18 000	LC
Blue-billed duck	Oxyura australis	18 000	NT
Hartlaub's duck	Pteronetta hartlaubii	26 000 – 110 000	LC			175px
Lesser white-fronted goose	Anser erythropus	28 000 – 33 000	VU			175px
Eaton's pintail	Anas eatoni	31 200 – 41 400	VU		Has not been estimated since the 1980s; numbers have probably declined.	175px
Red-breasted goose	Branta ruficollis	37 000	EN		Minimum estimate.
Ruddy-headed goose	Chloephaga rubidiceps	43 000 – 82 000	LC			175px
Marbled duck	Marmaronetta angustirostris	50 000 – 55 000	VU			175px
Masked duck	Nomonyx dominicus	50 000 – 499 999	LC			175px
Muscovy duck	Cairina moschata	50 000 – 499 000	LC
Swan goose	Anser cygnoides	60 000 – 90 000	VU
Mandarin duck	Aix galericulata	65 000 – 66 000	LC
Emperor goose	Chen canagica	85 000	NT		Minimum estimate.	175px
Falcated duck	Anas falcata	89 000	NT		Minimum estimate.
Black swan	Cygnus atratus	100 000 – 1 000 000	LC
Smew	Mergellus albellus	130 000	LC		Minimum estimate.
Cotton pygmy goose	Nettapus coromandelianus	130 000 – 1 100 000	LC
Ruddy shelduck	Tadorna ferruginea	170 000 – 220 000	LC	Unknown
Whooper swan	Cygnus cygnus	180 000	LC	Unknown	Minimum estimate.
Pacific black duck	Anas superciliosa	180 000 – 1 200 000	LC	Unknown		175px
Harlequin duck	Histrionicus histrionicus	190 000 – 380 000	LC
Lesser whistling duck	Dendrocygna javanica	200 000 – 2 000 000	LC			175px
Surf scoter	Melanitta perspicillata	250 000 – 1 300 000	LC
Tundra swan	Cygnus columbianus	300 000	LC	Unknown	Minimum estimate.
Spectacled eider	Somateria fischeri	330 000 – 390 000	LC
Velvet scoter	Melanitta fusca	380 000	EN			175px
Red-breasted merganser	Mergus serrator	510 000 – 610 000	LC
Black scoter	Melanitta americana	530 000 – 830 000	NT
Brant goose	Branta bernicla	560 000	LC	Unknown	Minimum estimate.	175px
Common shelduck	Tadorna tadorna	580 000 – 710 000	LC
Mute swan	Cygnus olor	600 000 – 610 000	LC
West Indian whistling duck	Dendrocygna arborea	600 000 – 610 000	VU
White-winged scoter	Melanitta stejnegeri	600 000 – 1 000 000	LC
King eider	Somateria spectabilis	790 000 – 930 000	LC
Spot-billed duck	Anas zonorhyncha	800 000 – 1 600 000	LC			175px
Cackling goose	Branta hutchinsii	920 000 – 1 400 000	LC	Unknown		175px
Magpie goose	Anseranas semipalmata	1 000 000	LC
Rosy-billed pochard	Netta peposaca	1 000 000	LC			175px
Grey teal	Anas gracilis	1 000 000 – 1 100 000	LC			175px
Greylag goose	Anser anser	1 000 000 – 1 100 000	LC
Black-bellied whistling duck	Dendrocygna autumnalis	1 100 000 – 2 000 000	LC
Bufflehead	Bucephala albeola	1 200 000	LC		Minimum estimate.
Greater scaup	Aythya marila	1 200 000 – 1 400 000	LC
Fulvous whistling duck	Dendrocygna bicolor	1 300 000 – 1 500 000	LC
Common scoter	Melanitta nigra	1 600 000	LC	Unknown
Common merganser	Mergus merganser	1 700 000 – 2 400 000	LC			175px
White-faced whistling duck	Dendrocygna viduata	1 700 000 – 2 800 000	LC			175px
Common pochard	Aythya ferina	2 200 000 – 2 500 000	LC
Common goldeneye	Bucephala clangula	2 500 000 – 4 600 000	LC
Garganey	Anas querquedula	2 600 000 – 2 800 000	LC
Tufted duck	Aythya fuligula	2 600 000 – 2 900 000	LC			175px
Eurasian wigeon	Anas penelope	2 800 000 – 3 300 000	LC
Common eider	Somateria mollissima	3 100 000 – 3 800 000	LC	Unknown		175px
Gadwall	Anas strepera	3 200 000 – 3 800 000	LC	Unknown
Northern pintail	Anas acuta	5 300 000 – 5 400 000	LC
Northern shoveler	Anas clypeata	5 500 000 – 6 000 000	LC			175px
Long-tailed duck	Clangula hyemalis	6 200 000 – 6 800 000	VU
Mallard	Anas platyrhynchos	19 000 000	LC		Minimum estimate.

See also

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