The survey of waterfowl distribution and density was done in different types of waterbodies in Belarus, such as small forest lakes, poor- and high-productivity lakes, reservoirs, fish-farm ponds, floodplains poor, moderately rich and rich in open water, canals and small rivers. The study was done in 1985-1996. The densities of main waterfowl species with breeding ranges covering the total area of Belarus were the same as in similar European habitats. The densities of Anas strepera, Podiceps griseigena, Anas crecca and especially of Anas querquedula in Belarus differed from those in surrounding areas. Extremely high densities and breeding far outside the continuous ranges were observed for several species on artificial highly productive waterbodies. The majority of species had high densities on one type of waterbody, whereas relatively low on other types. In most cases, the distribution of numbers of birds followed the pattern of their density distribution. The total abundance of all species was estimated from their densities on different types of wetlands. At present, the most important breeding sites of waterfowl are located in floodplains of Poles'ya with high and medium proportions of open water (48% of the waterfowl numbers) and on artificial ponds (30.3%). Trends in the populations of most species were determined by qualitative and quantitative changes in their habitats, but for some species such as Anser anser, Cygnus olor, Aythya nyroca, and Mergus merganser they may be explained by different factors.
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