Mute swan Cygnus olor, cygnet on adult's back seeking shelter, Langford, Bedfordshire

Ducks, geese and swans

The ‘wildfowl’ are medium to large birds with rather long or very long necks, mostly short, broad bills, short legs and the front three toes joined by webs.

There are specialised groups, such as the mergansers (‘sawbills’), which have saw-tooth edges to more slender, hooked bills, which help them to grasp fish. Swans are the largest and longest-necked; one species resident in the UK, two species visit from autumn to spring. Geese are divided into two main groups, the ‘grey’ geese (including the greylag) and the ‘black’ geese, such as brent and barnacle geese. One of the most widespread, the Canada goose, is not native, but introduced to the UK from North America.

Ducks are roughly divided into ‘surface feeders’, which rarely dive, and ‘diving ducks’, which dive under for food. Several of the latter are found on the sea. Shelducks are intermediate in some respects between ducks and geese.

Barnacle goose

A medium-sized, sociable goose, with black head, neck & breast with creamy-white face, which contrasts with the white belly, blue-grey barred back & black tail

Bewick's swan

Bewick's swans are the smallest swans to visit the UK. They come here for winter, all the way from Siberia!

Brent goose

A small, dark goose - the same size as a mallard. It has a black head and neck and grey-brown back, with either a pale or dark belly, depending on the race.

Canada goose

A large goose with a distinctive black head & neck & large white throat patch. Introduced from N America, it has successfully spread to cover most of the UK.

Common scoter

The male is totally black & the female lighter with a pale face. Often seen as large bobbing rafts offshore, or long straggling lines flying along the coast.

Eider

The UK's heaviest duck and its fastest flying. It is a true sea duck, rarely found away from coasts where it depends on coastal molluscs for food.

Egyptian goose

Related to the shelduck, this pale brown and grey goose has distinctive dark brown eye-patches and contrasting white wing patches in flight.

Gadwall

This very grey-coloured dabbling duck, a little smaller than the mallard, and with an obvious black rear end.

Garganey

The garganey is a scarce and very secretive breeding duck in the UK. It is smaller than a mallard and slightly bigger than a teal.

Goldeneye

A medium sized diving duck. Males look black and white with a greenish black head and a circular white patch in front of the yellow eye.

Goosander

A largely freshwater bird, the goosander first bred in the UK in 1871. It is gregarious, forming into flocks of thousands in some parts of Europe.

Greylag goose

The ancestor of most domestic geese, the greylag is the largest and bulkiest of the wild geese native to the UK and Europe.

Long-tailed duck

A small sea duck, they have small round heads and steep foreheads. They don't breed in the UK but protection of their wintering sites is important.

Mallard

The mallard is a large, heavy looking duck. It has a long body and long, broad bill. Find out about the nesting habits, populations, legal status and more.

Mandarin

Mandarin ducks were introduced to the UK from China and have become established following escapes from captivity.

Mute swan

The mute swan is a very large white waterbird. It has a long S-shaped neck, and an orange bill with black at the base of it.

Pink-footed goose

The pink-footed goose is a medium-sized goose, smaller than a mute swan but bigger than a mallard.

Pintail

Slightly bigger than a mallard, these long-necked and small-headed ducks fly with a curved back pointed wings and a tapering tail.

Pochard

The pochard is a stocky diving duck, smaller than a mallard. Birds breed in eastern England, in lowland Scotland & in small numbers in N. Ireland.

Red-breasted merganser

These handsome diving ducks belong to the sawbill family, so called because of their long, serrated bills, used for catching fish.

Ruddy duck

Ruddy ducks are small, stout freshwater diving ducks with broad, short wings and narrow, stiff tails.

Scaup

Scaups are diving ducks with a resemblance to tufted ducks. Only a handful breed in the UK every year, making them our rarest breeding ducks.

Shelduck

This is a big, colourful duck, which is bigger than a mallard. Shelducks live mostly around the coast, but sometimes inland.

Shoveler

Shovelers are surface feeing ducks with huge spatulate bills. In the UK they breed in southern and eastern England.

Smew

The smew is a small compact diving duck with a delicate bill. Find out more about Smews including their habitat, food and distribution in the UK.

Taiga bean goose

The taiga bean goose is the species of bean goose most likely to be seen in the UK. It tends to be darker and browner than the other 'grey geese' species with orange legs and a darker head and neck.

Teal

Teals are small dabbling ducks. They are thinly distributed as a breeding species with a preference for northern moors and mires.

Tufted duck

The tufted duck is a diving duck, smaller than a mallard. It breeds in the UK across lowland areas of England, Scotland and Ireland.

Tundra bean goose

The tundra bean goose is a species of bean goose that can be seen in the UK during the winter. It tends to be darker and browner than the other 'grey geese' species with orange legs and a darker head and neck.

Velvet scoter

The velvet scoter is a black sea duck. It has a long bill, thick neck and pointed tail. It does not breed in the UK, but is a winter visitor.

White-fronted goose

The white fronted goose is a grey goose, bigger than a mallard and smaller than a mute swan. Adults have a large white patch at the front of the head.

Whooper swan

The whooper swan is a large white swan, bigger than a Bewick's swan. It has a long thin neck, which it usually holds erect, and black legs.

Wigeon

The wigeon is a medium-sized duck with a round head and small bill. In flight birds show white bellies and males have a large white wing patch.