Largely an eastern equivalent of Common Shelduck, but sympatric
in many regions of Asia. This species also has several non-migratory populations in North-west Africa and
Ethiopia, plus introduced/feral birds in much of Europe. The Ethiopian population is tiny and critically endangered,
whereas other African populations are in decline. The main introduced population, originally in Switzerland but
having spread to Southern Germany, is being controlled, but feral birds occur all over (the right-hand bird
was taken in Madeira). This means of course that birds will probably never be accepted on to category A in the UK,
but many suspect that small flocks seen fairly often are irruptive birds from the core Asian population. Other
shots were taken in Kazakhstan.
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