Marbled Teal on the Brink in Armenia and Turkey
Once widespread across the Caucasus, the species now clings on with only a handful of pairs in Armenia and is likely extinct as a breeder in Turkey
A species in freefall
The Marbled Teal Marmaronetta angustirostris has suffered dramatic declines across its Caucasus range, according to a new assessment of its status in Armenia and Turkey. Once breeding widely in both countries, the species has almost vanished. Armenia now holds just 8–11 breeding pairs, mainly in the Ararat Plain, while in Turkey the species is considered functionally extirpated as a breeding bird, with only wandering individuals recorded in recent years.
Population monitoring in Armenia from 2003 to 2019 revealed a steep, significant decline: an 87% reduction over 17 years, including a 66% loss in the past decade alone:contentReference[oaicite:1]{index=1}. Turkey, meanwhile, has not confirmed breeding for over a decade, with its last stronghold at the Göksu Delta now effectively lost.
Hunting and habitat loss
Both countries face the same pressures: intensive wetland degradation and heavy hunting pressure. In Armenia, interviews revealed that most hunters cannot distinguish Marbled Teal from other brown ducks, raising the likelihood of accidental shooting. The species’ breeding range overlaps with heavily used public hunting lands, where thousands of hunters converge each season.
In Turkey, although hunting Marbled Teal is illegal, illegal hunting remains widespread, with an estimated 1.5 million unlicensed hunters nationwide. At the same time, wetland loss is accelerating due to unsustainable water extraction and climate-driven drought, leaving former breeding sites unsuitable.
Conservation gaps
Marbled Teal is listed as Endangered in Armenia and included in Appendix I and II of the Convention on Migratory Species, as well as Annex I of the EU Birds Directive. Yet protection on the ground remains partial. Only the Lake Sevan breeding sites are inside a National Park, while key Ararat Plain wetlands lie within public hunting lands.
Although the Emerald Network and Bern Convention nominally cover candidate sites, enforcement and management remain weak. The study’s authors stress that without urgent reforms—particularly to exclude Marbled Teal sites from hunting areas—the species will continue to spiral downwards.
Recommendations for action
The authors propose upgrading the species’ conservation status in both Armenia and Turkey from Endangered to Critically Endangered. They recommend:
- Immediate adoption of regional and country-level action plans
- Formal protection and management of all known breeding sites
- Stronger hunting regulation, including mandatory identification tests for hunters in Armenia
- Wetland preservation and restoration projects
- Feasibility studies for potential reintroduction in Turkey
A vanishing future?
The outlook is bleak. In Armenia, even its last breeding refuge at Armash Wetlands is compromised by reed burning and fish-farming practices that degrade habitat. In Turkey, the species appears already gone as a breeder. Without rapid intervention, the Caucasus population of this enigmatic duck may soon disappear entirely.
September 2025
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