White-backed Duck (Thalassornis leuconotus) - BirdLife species factsheet

White-backed Duck Thalassornis leuconotus

Current view: Data table and detailed info

Taxonomy

Taxonomic source(s)
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A. and Fishpool, L.D.C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Lynx Edicions BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.
del Hoyo, J.; Collar, N. J.; Christie, D. A.; Elliott, A.; Fishpool, L. D. C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge UK: Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International.

IUCN Red List criteria met and history

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2016	Least Concern
2012	Least Concern
2009	Least Concern
2008	Least Concern
2004	Least Concern
2000	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1994	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1988	Lower Risk/Least Concern

Species attributes

Migratory status	not a migrant	Forest dependency	does not normally occur in forest
Land-mass type		Average mass	-

Range

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	25,900,000 km²	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

Population

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	8000-19000 mature individuals	poor	estimated	2009
Population trend	decreasing	-	suspected	-
Generation length	9.7 years	-	-	-

Population justification: The population is estimated to number 12,000-28,000 individuals, roughly equating to 8,000-19,000 mature individuals.

Trend justification: The overall trend is decreasing, although some populations may be stable (Wetlands International 2006).

Country/territory distribution

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor
Angola	extant	native	yes
Benin	extant	native	yes
Botswana	extant	native	yes
Burkina Faso	extant	vagrant			yes
Burundi	extant	native	yes
Cameroon	extant	native	yes
Chad	extant	native	yes
Congo	extant	native	yes
Congo, The Democratic Republic of the	extant	native	yes
Eswatini	extant	native	yes
Ethiopia	extant	native	yes
Kenya	extant	native	yes
Lesotho	extant	native	yes
Madagascar	extant	native	yes
Malawi	extant	native	yes
Mali	extant	native	yes
Mauritania	extant	vagrant			yes
Mozambique	extant	native	yes
Namibia	extant	native	yes
Nigeria	extant	native	yes
Rwanda	extant	native	yes
Senegal	extant	native	yes
Somalia	extant	vagrant			yes
South Africa	extant	native		yes
South Sudan	extant	vagrant			yes
Sudan	extant	native	yes
Tanzania	extant	native	yes
Togo	extant	vagrant			yes
Uganda	extant	native	yes
Zambia	extant	native	yes
Zimbabwe	extant	native	yes

Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBA)

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Botswana	Okavango Delta
South Africa	Nyl River Floodplain
South Africa	Grasslands
Zambia	Sumbu National Park and Tondwa Game Management Area

Habitats & altitude

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Wetlands (inland)	Permanent Freshwater Lakes (over 8ha)	suitable	resident
Wetlands (inland)	Permanent Freshwater Marshes/Pools (under 8ha)	major	resident
Wetlands (inland)	Seasonal/Intermittent Freshwater Lakes (over 8ha)	suitable	resident
Altitude		Occasional altitudinal limits

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2023) Species factsheet: Thalassornis leuconotus. Downloaded from http://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/white-backed-duck-thalassornis-leuconotus on 06/12/2023.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2023) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from http://datazone.birdlife.org on 06/12/2023.