Baikal Teal

Common Name	Baikal TealBirdlife International
Species name	Anas formosaBirdlife International
Family	Anatidae
Genus	Anas
Local Name	Country Appearance Local name Brunei Darussalam     Cambodia     China     Indonesia     Japan Yes トモエガモ Lao PDR     Malaysia     Mongolia     Myanmar     Philippines     Republic of Korea     Singapore     Thailand     Vietnam

 

Visual and Sound Image

Photos

Baikal Teal

Videos

 

Sounds

 

Identification

39-43 cm. Small dabbling duck with striking head pattern. Males have complex buff, green, white and black head pattern, dark-spotted pinkish breast, grey flanks, black undertail-coverts and long chestnut, black and whitish scapulars. Female has isolated, round, pale loral spot and broken supercilium. Eclipse male resembles female. Juvenile has less defined loral spot than female, somewhat plainer head sides and dark mottling on whitish belly.
<Similar species> Female Garganey A. querquedula lacks round, white loral spot and has unbroken supercilium.
<Voice> Males utter deep, chuckling wot-wot-wot, females a low quack.

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Range Description

Anas formosa breeds in eastern Siberia, Russia and occurs on passage in Mongolia and North Korea. It winters mainly in Japan, South Korea, which held the largest wintering population during the 1990s, and mainland China, and it is a rare winter visitor to Taiwan (China) and Hong Kong (China). In the early 20th century, it was one of the most numerous ducks in eastern Asia and flocks of many thousands were regularly reported. Since the 1960s and 1970s, there has been a significant decline. However, in January 2006 a flock of 8,000-10,000 individuals was noted at the small Chongming Dongtan Ramsar Site in China (where the previous maximum was 300 individuals) and in 2006/2007 a flock of 50,000 was recorded at Yancheng National Nature Reserve; these represent the largest flocks recorded outside of South Korea in recent years4,6. The total national population estimate is now placed at 91,000 individuals7. Wintering counts in South Korea have however increased spectacularly from the c.20,000 located in the 1980s to a staggering total of 658,000 recorded during simultaneous surveys in 2004, including c. 600,000 in the lower reaches of the Geum River. It remains to be discovered whether increases at wintering sites reflect real population increases or the relocation of birds from unknown sites in the region in response to wetland loss.

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Ecology

Ecology (Behaviour)

The species arrives on its Korean wintering grounds from September, peaking through October and November and returning north in mid March/early April2.

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Habitat

<Breeding> It nests in open tussock meadows near water and in mossy bogs with clumps of willows Salix and larch Larix.
<Non-breeding> It winters (in dense aggregations) on freshwater lakes, rivers, reservoirs, and farmland, often roosting on water during the day and feeding in fields during the night.

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Diet

It feeds on seeds and grain, water snails, algae and other water plants.

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Breeding Site

See Habitat

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References

BirdLife International (2001). 1. N. Moores in litt. (2001). 2. Degtyarev et al. (2006). 3. C. Moores in litt. (2005). 4. Zhang Kejia in litt. (2006). 6. Zhang (2006). 7. Cao et al. (in prep.).

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Status

International Status

IUCN Red List Category

VU

Justification

This species tends to congregate in very large flocks, and suffered rapid declines in many parts of its range during the twentieth century because of hunting and other threats. Although counts of wintering individuals in Korea have increased spectacularly over recent years, its roost sites are unprotected, large numbers died in a recent disease outbreak, and most importantly, the dry rice paddies where it feeds are being converted to vegetable farms and other uses. It is therefore projected to undergo a rapid decline in the immediate future, and hence the species is still listed as Vulnerable. If these land-use changes do not occur as rapidly as predicted, or if significant populations are found in China, then it may warrant downlisting to Near Threatened.
<Population justification> The Asian Waterbird Census 2004 count in Korea was 455,000 birds (D. Li in litt. 2005 to Wetlands International 2006); numbers in other countries tiny by comparison. 658,000 were reported in Korea in 2004 (Hansoo Lee in litt. 2004), but this may be over-estimated (Moores and Keare 2005).
<Trend justification> This species is expected to undergo a rapid decline over the next ten years, based on the likely impacts of the conversion of paddy fields to vegetable farms (S. Chan in litt. 2003).

 

National Status

Country	Category	Reference
Brunei Darussalam
Cambodia
China
Indonesia
Japan	VU	http://www.biodic.go.jp/rdb/rdb_f.html
Korea	LC	Korean Red List of Threatened Species(NIBR, 2012)
Lao PDR
Malaysia
Mongolia	VU	Mongolian Red List of Birds(Seidler et al. Eds., 2011)
Myanmar
Philippines
Singapore
Thailand	VU	Thailand Red Data: Birds(Sanguansombat, 2005)
Vietnam

 

Management

Threat

Hunting was probably the main reason for its decline and is still a serious threat, particularly as it concentrates in large flocks on wetlands and arable land. In China and South Korea, birds are killed by poisoned grain; pesticide poisoning and pollution from agricultural and household wastes are thought to be a serious problem in the Geum River, South Korea2. Large declines in the numbers of Anatidae have occurred in Sanjiang plain and Poyang Hu, China, as a result of habitat loss to agricultural development and hunting. Wintering sites in South Korea are threatened by the development of wetlands; there has been a recent proposal for building the largest tourist development in northeast Asia on the Haenem reclamation site, a key site for wintering Baikal Teal3. Also, its habit of forming dense aggregations in winter renders the species susceptible to infectious diseases; 10,000 birds were recorded dead owing to avian cholera in October, 20022. The species suffers from disturbance at the Geum River with up to 12 incidences per day of disturbance from low flying aircraft2.

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Information

No descriptions

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Current Conservation

CITES Appendix II, CMS Appendix II. It is legally protected in Russia, Mongolia, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and some provinces in China; and is listed in the Red Data Books of South Korea, Russia and Yakutia2. Some important sites are protected areas, including Bolob lake and Khanka lake (Russia), the Geum River (South Korea2) and Katano duck pond (Japan). Annual monitoring takes place in parts of its range2.

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Current Conservation

Study its decline and establish more protected areas in its breeding grounds. Research its wintering status in China. Draft and implement a management plan for the wintering population in South Korea. Regulate hunting of all Anatidae species in China. Ensure its legal protection in all range states.

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Legal Protection

Country	Status	Reference
Brunei Darussalam
Cambodia
China
Indonesia
Japan
Korea	Category II	Wildlife Protection Act
Lao PDR
Malaysia
Mongolia	Rare Species	Mongolian Law on Fauna
Myanmar
Philippines
Singapore
Thailand
Vietnam

 

Related Links

• CMS: Convention on Migratory Species
• CITES Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora

Range

Geographical Information

Migration Route

 

Asian Waterbird Census

Descriptions

The Asian Waterbird Census (AWC) was initiated in 1987 and runs in parallel with other waterbird censuses carried out in Africa, Europe, Central and West Asia and Latin America under the umbrella of the International Waterbird Census (IWC), which is organised by Wetlands International.

The AWC takes place annually, during the second and third weeks of January, and is carried out by volunteers interested in collecting information on waterbirds and wetlands as a basis for contributing to their conservation.

Reference: Li, Z.W.D., Bloem, A., Delany S., Martakis G. and Quintero J. O. 2009. Status of Waterbirds in Asia - Results of the Asian Waterbird Census: 1987-2007. Wetlands International, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Census Data

BRUNEI DARUSSALAM	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The number of observed individual
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)
The total number of count sites	2	3	3	2	4	4	0	4	4	4	4	5	5	0	0	0	9	0	0	1	0	9
CAMBODIA	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The number of observed individual
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)
The total number of count sites	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	0	11	0	0	12	12	11	5	1	6	9	6	6
CHINA	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The number of observed individual				83	3748	2528	119	13			53								28		8015	61
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)				1	7	8	3	1			1								3		1	3
The total number of count sites	0	1	34	12	50	60	67	29	6	14	6	15	21	20	14	10	22	45	80	81	59	72
INDONESIA	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The number of observed individual
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)
The total number of count sites	0	0	0	1	19	8	17	17	15	19	16	0	0	47	12	10	40	34	14	16	15	23
JAPAN	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The number of observed individual				307	418	391	71		104	1298	135	57	98	890	2964	363	320	3395	649	556	665	1006
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)				12	10	15	10		7	9	8	8	7	7	8	10	4	5	9	17	9	10
The total number of count sites	0	0	0	53	39	52	47	20	50	40	47	37	41	37	107	112	103	109	97	159	142	137
LAO PDR	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The number of observed individual
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)
The total number of count sites	0	0	0	2	4	5	3	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	14	1	0	0	0	1	0	0
MALAYSIA	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The number of observed individual
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)
The total number of count sites	0	0	0	59	68	93	85	17	10	7	10	0	0	20	25	25	25	43	43	82	82	40
MYANMAR	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The number of observed individual
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)
The total number of count sites	0	5	3	12	17	15	21	20	13	12	2	4	2	0	7	32	47	73	24	31	32	19
PHILIPPINES	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The number of observed individual
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)
The total number of count sites	0	0	0	0	19	21	34	39	46	47	39	28	29	32	43	38	50	47	56	54	65	108
SINGAPORE	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The number of observed individual
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)
The total number of count sites	0	0	0	0	4	12	17	15	13	14	10	10	6	11	10	10	8	9	9	8	8	7
REPUBLIC OF KOREA	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The number of observed individual			20000	13138	20000	18000	20004	60280	20000	55500	49055	85151	91650	230508	211704	185699	287206	303169	455168	337588	270834	819563
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)			1	2	1	1	2	2	1	3	6	4	4	8	8	14	9	7	18	21	14	10
The total number of count sites	0	0	10	12	22	20	20	15	10	22	25	22	14	68	99	112	118	116	117	123	127	127
THAILAND	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The number of observed individual					1
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)					1
The total number of count sites	10	8	3	20	26	12	23	16	17	5	9	3	1	1	7	3	9	26	20	82	99	33
VIETNAM	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The number of observed individual
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)
The total number of count sites	0	0	0	1	2	0	1	4	0	1	1	0	1	8	2	2	16	4	4	9	6	11

 

Population

Descriptions

 

Population Trend

 

Additional Information

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Climate change species distributions

 

Other Information

• Detailed species accounts from the Threatened birds of Asia: the BirdLife International Red Data Book (BirdLife International 2001), together with new information collated since the publication of the Red Data Book