Spatula querquedula
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5% in a week ~10%
The garganey (Spatula querquedula) is a small dabbling duck. It breeds in much of Europe and across the Palearctic, but is strictly migratory, with the entire population moving to Africa, India (in particular Santragachi), Bangladesh (in the natural reservoirs of Sylhet district) and Australasia during the winter of the Northern hemisphere, where large flocks can occur. This species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. Like other small ducks such as the Eurasian teal, this species rises easily from the water with a fast twisting wader-like flight.
Their breeding habitat is grassland adjacent to shallow marshes and steppe lakes. The first formal description of the garganey was by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae. He introduced the binomial name Anas querquedula. A molecular phylogentic study comparing mitochondrial DNA sequences published in 2009 found that the genus Anas, as then defined, was non-monophyletic. The genus was subsequently split into four monophyletic genera with ten species including the garganey moved into the resurrected genus Spatula. This genus... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Keoladeo National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 2 | Biebrza National Park | 🇵🇱 Poland | |
| 3 | Hortobágy National Park | 🇭🇺 Hungary | |
| 4 | Fertő-Hanság National Park | 🇭🇺 Hungary | |
| 5 | Kiskunság National Park | 🇭🇺 Hungary | |
| 6 | Camargue | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 7 | Białowieża National Park | 🇵🇱 Poland | |
| 8 | Kaziranga National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 9 | Ranthambore National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 10 | Bavarian Forest National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 11 | Yala National Park | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 12 | Wadden Sea National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 13 | Vatnajokull National Park | 🇮🇸 Iceland | |
| 14 | Doñana National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 15 | Bandipur National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 16 | Amboseli National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 17 | Nagarhole National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 18 | Satpura National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 19 | Snowdonia National Park | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 20 | Lake Nakuru National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 21 | Chitwan National Park | 🇳🇵 Nepal | |
| 22 | Ngorongoro Conservation Area | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 23 | Sierra de Guadarrama National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 24 | Kanha National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 25 | Monfragüe National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rajkot | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 2 | Tuen Mun | 🇨🇳 China | |
| 3 | Vasai-Virar | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 4 | Kochi | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 5 | Sacramento | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Quanzhou | 🇨🇳 China | |
| 7 | Bucharest | 🇷🇴 Romania | |
| 8 | Indore | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 9 | Ponnani | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 10 | Patna | 🇮🇳 India |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zoobotánico Jerez | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 2 | Slimbridge Wetland Centre | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 3 | Budapest Zoo & Botanical Garden | 🇭🇺 Hungary | |
| 4 | Cleres Zoological Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 5 | Valencia Bioparc | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 6 | Inokashira Park Zoo | 🇯🇵 Japan | |
| 7 | Ogród Zoologiczny w Katowicach | 🇵🇱 Poland |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Garganey sighting in Lake Nakuru National Park on a given day, based on 10 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 319th most-seen of the 369 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, and over a week to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Garganey in Lake Nakuru National Park on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Garganey sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
20th of 25
Of the 25 parks where we can rate Garganey sightings, Lake Nakuru National Park ranks 20th at under 5%. The best odds are in Keoladeo National Park (India, about 30%), Biebrza National Park (Poland, about 30%) and Hortobágy National Park (Hungary, about 20%).
Same genus: Spatula
The closest relatives of the Garganey that you can see in Lake Nakuru National Park (genus Spatula, Shovelers and Allies) are Hottentot Teal (about 20%) and Northern Shoveler (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Garganey is recorded against all the birds logged in Lake Nakuru National Park (10 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
