WATERFOWL COUNTS
National midwinter counts of waterfowl have been undertaken in Sweden since the start of the International Waterfowl Counts (IWC) organized by Wetlands International (formerly IWRB) since they started in 1967, forming a part of that programme. Before that monthly waterfowl counts were made on a small scale in south Sweden during 1959/60 - 1974/75. As many waterfowl species leave the country for the winter, suplementary national counts have been undertaken in South Sweden in September each year since 1973.
The project is also included in the National Swedish environmental monitoring programme organized by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (Naturvårdsverket).
During the first years of midwinter counts the aim was to get a full coverage of all important waterfowl areas in the country. In 1969-73 more or less complete coverage of the entire coast except ofsshore aeas and most inland sites of importance was obtained by the cooperation of a large numbers of voluntary counters, boat surveys from coastguard patrol vessels and aerial surveys.
After the first exploratory years the programme was standardized and includes:
Annual index counts January counts are undertaken on an annual sample of about 600 sites grouped in about 70 reference areas plus spread sites to provide data for the calculation of annual population indices. In addition to the International Counts in January an additional September count is undertaken on about 200 sites also to produce population indices. The counts are concentrated to southern Sweden where ice-free waters are available in midwinter.
Country-wide surveys In 1969
(1971)- 1973 a more or less complete coverage of the entire Swedish coast with
the exception of offshore areas was obtained in addition to a vast inland
coverage. Similar country-wide surveys were organized in January 1987-89,
January 2004 and January 2015. According to the plans these country-wide surveys should be
undertaken at intervals to check for changes in distribution patterns in
addition to establishing population totals. They are also necessary to establish
that the annual sample is representative of Swedish waterfowl areas.
Special surveys Special surveys for
Whooper Swans have been organized in Europe with five year intervals as the
species has changed habits and now is more terrestrial and not well covered by
the waterfowl counts any more. The first survey in this series in Sweden was
undertaken in January 1995.
Offshore survey In the winters 2007-2009 a special offshore survey was undertaken in cooperation with the other Baltic countries with the aim to make a complete survey of the seabirds wintering in the Baltic. Offshore surveys in Swedish waters continued in 2010 and 2011. A new all-Baltic survey was undertaken in 2016. The Swedish results are presented on this homepage (see links below). The west coast was not included in the offshore survey 2016 but the areas of importance for the Eider were covered in in 2015.
For more information on different aspects of the project follow the links below:
Coastal survey 2015 (last country-wide survey)
Total counts of the different species in 2019/20
Division of Swedish coast into counting units (maps)
January temperatures and ice conditions in different years
For reports follow the links below
Species accounts
Below the results are discussed separately for the more important species.
