Bewick's Swan, Tundra Swan (Cygnus columbianus)
Key Details
| Taxonomic Groups: | Vertebrate > bird > Bird |
| Red List Status: | Critically Endangered (Non-breeding) [CR(nbr)] |
| D5 Status: | Included in the baseline Red List Index for England (Wilkins, Wilson & Brown, 2022) |
| Section 41 Status: | (not listed) |
| Taxa Included Synonym: | Cygnus columbianus subsp. bewickii |
| UKSI Recommended Name: | Cygnus columbianus |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | (Ord, 1815) |
| UKSI Recommended Qualifier: | (none specified) |
| Red List Citation: | Stanbury et al., 2021 |
| Notes on taxonomy/listing: | in s41 as subsp. bewickii (NBNSYS0000173164), the sole UK subspecies. |
Criteria
| Question 1: | Does species need conservation or recovery in England? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Eng WeBS trends (25 yr -95%, 10 yr -90%) |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | climate change impacts driving change. Site protection is required. |
| Question 3: | At a landscape scale, would the species benefit from untargeted habitat management to increase habitat mosaics, structural diversity, or particular successional stages? |
| Response: | No |
| Justification: | This species would not benefit from untargeted management |
Species Assessment
| Current step on the Species Recovery Curve (SRC): | 7. Best approach adopted at appropriate scales |
| Recovery potential/expectation: | Low - Climate change |
| National Monitoring Resource: | Structured - sufficient |
| Species Comments: | Birds are short-stopping before the UK. |
Key Actions
Key Action 1
Proposed Action: Review evidence on possible site-related drivers of decline at England's 14 SPAs for Bewick's swan and enhance site management where necessary
Action targets: 4. Autecology and pressures understood
Action type: Scientific research
Duration: 1 year
Scale of Implementation: Not applicable
High priority sites:
Comments:
Acknowledgment:
Data used on this website are adapted from Threatened species recovery actions 2025 baseline (JP065): Technical report and spreadsheet user guide (Natural England, 2025). Available here.