Ducks, Geese & Swans in Down
Our list for Down has 19 ducks, geese & swans recorded regularly there: 8 residents, 3 winter visitors, 6 passage migrants and 2 scarce visitors
Most likely in October
GBIF · OctShare of all bird records in Down in October, 2019–2024. Each month links to that month’s page.
All 19, most common first
Brent GooseBranta berniclaWinter visitorCommon55–66 cmRegularly Sep–May
MallardAnas platyrhynchosResidentCommon50–65 cmRecorded all year
EiderSomateria mollissimaResidentCommon50–71 cmRegularly Sep–Jul
Common ShelduckTadorna tadornaResidentCommon58–67 cmRecorded all year
Eurasian TealAnas creccaWinter visitorCommon34–38 cmRegularly Aug–Mar
Mute SwanCygnus olorResidentCommon140–160 cmRecorded all year
Greylag GooseAnser anserWinter visitorCommon75–90 cmRegularly May–Mar
Eurasian WigeonMareca penelopePassage migrantCommon42–51 cmRegularly Aug–Mar
GoldeneyeBucephala clangulaPassage migrantUncommon40–51 cmRegularly Nov–Mar
Red-breasted MerganserMergus serratorPassage migrantUncommon52–58 cmRegularly Oct–May
Tufted DuckAythya fuligulaResidentUncommon40–47 cmRegularly Feb–Dec
GadwallMareca streperaResidentUncommon46–56 cmRegularly May–Feb
Northern PintailAnas acutaPassage migrantUncommon59–76 cmRegularly Oct–Mar
Whooper SwanCygnus cygnusPassage migrantUncommon140–165 cmRegularly Oct–Mar
Common ScoterMelanitta nigraPassage migrantUncommon43–54 cmRegularly Sep–Dec
Northern ShovelerSpatula clypeataResidentUncommon44–51 cmRegularly Dec–May
Canada GooseBranta canadensisResidentUncommon76–110 cmRegularly Jun
Barnacle GooseBranta leucopsisScarceUncommon58–70 cm
PochardAythya ferinaScarceRare42–49 cm
Smallest to largest
Length, cm- Eurasian Teal 34–38 cm
- Tufted Duck 40–47 cm
- Goldeneye 40–51 cm
- Pochard 42–49 cm
- Eurasian Wigeon 42–51 cm
- Northern Shoveler 44–51 cm
- Common Scoter 43–54 cm
- Gadwall 46–56 cm
- Red-breasted Merganser 52–58 cm
- Mallard 50–65 cm
- Brent Goose 55–66 cm
- Eider 50–71 cm
- Common Shelduck 58–67 cm
- Barnacle Goose 58–70 cm
- Northern Pintail 59–76 cm
- Greylag Goose 75–90 cm
- Canada Goose 76–110 cm
- Mute Swan 140–160 cm
- Whooper Swan 140–165 cm
Body length, bill to tail. Rare birds in grey.
Data: EOD – eBird Observation Dataset (Cornell Lab of Ornithology), accessed via GBIF.org, CC BY 4.0. Records from 2019–2024, aggregated and filtered by Birdfact. How these lists are made