Africa, Asia, Europe and Central Asia, Middle East
This discussion was first published as part of the 2022.1 Red List update. At the time a decision regarding its status was pended, but to enable potential reassessment of this species as part of the 2022.2 Red List update this post remained open and the date of posting has been updated.
Please see further information below relating to the status of the Marbled Teal:
A recent article by BirdGuides (https://www.birdguides.com/news/recovery-noted-in-spanish-marbled-duck-population/) notes that the Spanish population of the Marbled Teal has seen signs of temporary recovery. In 2021, a large number of the species (105 females and 759 chicks) were recorded in Andalusia and Valencia, including more breeding females recorded in the Balearic Islands (9 females) and Castilla-La Mancha (3 females).
The region is also subject to captive breeding programmes, where the Andalusia and Valencian breeding centres released 860 individuals in 2021, whilst further birds were provided for reintroduction in Sicily, Italy.
Please let us know below of any further information that may assist with the status review of this species. Thank you very much.
Thanks for your effort on revising the global status of Marbled Teal.
Based on what I know on this species, I’m with keeping the conservation assessment as it is (VU). This is due to the severe pressure that this duck faces, in addition to the habitats destruction. I think that the global concentration of the breeding individuals of MT is currently in the wetlands of Iraq. These wetlands are suffering from real threat of lack of water due to the dam working upstream. We hardly can find them breeding here in Iraq nowadays. The additional serious issue is the hunting pressure, and for its being one out of only three duck species (Feru. Duck & Red-Cres. Pochard) that remain in summer.
For these reasons, in addition to some more ones, I recommend to keep MT as VU.
Best regards,
Mudhafar Salim
Iraq
The observed increase in Andalusia might very well be a temporarily increase due to the captive breeding/restocking work there. However it needs time to see if the temporary increase will hold on, as according to some local species experts (Andry Green) the habitat for the species is heavily deteriorated in Spain so casts doubts on the long term trend of this reintroduction/restocking program. At the same time the situation in Turkey is very doomed-looking with the population there seemingly in trouble and facing potential extinction. W Medit counts in N Africa very well might be due to improved and intensified monitoring efforts there. With some uncertainty over Asia numbers (the S Asia data is from 30 years ago!) There should be a precautionary approach taken and the species threat category be kept as it is right now.
I fear that report from Spain is misleading, as the situation in the two key areas of Doñana and El Hondo has deteriorated in recent years. Any supposed increase is most likely to be a direct consequence of massive release of captive-bred birds, plus some increase in monitoring related to the ongoing LIFE project
Dear colleagues, I am afraid I would disagree with your interpretation of the status of the species.
In this respect the most important population to look at is the South-west Asian one that contains c. 80% of the global population of the species. It is true that the in the CSR8 we have assessed the short-term (!) trend of this population as possibly increasing. However, we have also noted that the population is still far below the population levels in the 1970s and this is also clearly illustrated in the IWC analysis for the CSR7 (see at http://iwc.wetlands.org/index.php/aewatrends). Hence, this population has not recoved. In addition, I would like to draw your attention to the fact that your national partners in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan have assessed the trend of the national breeding population as declining. It would be important to understand the status of the species in Iran and Kazakhstan. Nevertheless, I would assess the long-term trend of this population either as declining or minimum uncertain.
The small East Mediterranean population is clearly declining according to any data we have access to including the ERLoB from Turkey and the IWC counts from Israel.
The West Mediterranean population seems to be indeed increasing. However, European birds represent only a small proportion of this population and I am not aware of strong habitat restoration and population reinforcement measures in North Africa where the bulk of this population occurs. In addition, we have noted in the CSR description that the interpretation of the IWC trend is extremely uncertain and we are unsure that the increase what we observe in this region is just the consequence of increased monitoring activities or it represents a genuine population change. Even if this population has increased, it would represent just c. 10% of the global population. Hence, whatever positive change we might think to notice here, it should not really change the global status assessment of the species.
In conclusion, the evidence to consider this species as a Least Concerned is rather slim. Despite of some apparent short-term increase, the current population size is most likely just a fraction of its former numbers.
I have forwarded this consultation to colleagues in Nature Iraq, notably Laith Al-Obeidi who has been carrying surveys in the Southern Marshes. Hopefully they will reply shortly. That aside I do agree with the comments made by Mudhafar Salim.
I would like to contribute several thoughts on population estimates and population trends.
Regarding the breeding pairs in 2021 in Spain, it should be noted that these figures are a direct consequence of the reinforcement program. More than 95% of the breeding pairs belong to individuals released in captivity. In addition, a recent analysis of the PVA (own data) reveals the extinction of the breeding populations in Spain if the reinforcement program is interrupted.
On the other hand, I do not find sufficient support in the data to the proposed change of status. Available population trend data available from IWC (http://iwc.test.wetlands.org/index.php/aewatrends8) estimate the total population at 45,000-50,000 individuals based primarily on the known count of > 40,000 individuals in 2010 in Iraq. Outside of that count, the authors’ own estimates for the South-west Asia population indicate that the highest annual IWC count total between 2014-2018 was 4,373 individuals (see http://iwc.test.wetlands.org/index.php/aewatrends8), 10 times less.
If we review the information by the same authors for the other two populations West Mediterranean/West Medit. & West Africa l(http://iwc.test.wetlands.org/static/csr8/trend/Trend_2297_MARAN.jpeg) and East Mediterranean http://iwc.test.wetlands.org/static/csr8/trend/Trend_2298_MARAN.jpeg , in both cases they indicate the significant declining trend. This coincides with that published in the latest European Atlas of Breeding Birds (Botella & Pérez-García 2021).
Finally, I believe that great care must be taken in assessing long-term population trends in species that naturally have very large fluctuations in their population numbers. On the other hand, I support what my colleague Mudhafar A. Salim said, the species is suffering an important pressure from hunting activity (Giménez et al. 2021), at least 40% of the birds released with GPS in the population reinforcement programs in Spain have disappeared in hunting areas (unpublished data). This fact could be biasing the counts in winter since many of the counted populations would not form the breeding population the following year.
References:
Giménez, M., Botella, F. y Pérez-García, J.M. (2021) Cerceta pardilla, Marmaronetta angustirrostris. En: López-Jiménez, N. (Ed.): Libro Rojo de las Aves de España, pp. 178-184. SEO/BirdLife. Madrid.
Botella, F. and Pérez-García, J.M. (2020). Marbled duck (Marmaronetta angustirrostris). in Keller, V., Herrando, S., Voříšek, P., Franch, M., Kipson, M., Milanesi, P., Martí, D., Anton, M., Klvanová, A., Kalyakin, M.V., & Bauer, H. G. European Breeding Bird Atlas 2: Distribution, Abundance and Change. European Bird Census Council (EBCC) and Lynx Editions. Barcelona. Pp 153.
I have also forwarded this consultation to Keramat Hafezi who has been studying the species in the wetlands of SW Iran and may be able to supply some helpful information and comments
Dear all,
I agree with Mudhafar Salim and the other experts.
While gathering the updated data regarding the breeding and distribution of MT in Iraq as part of developing its National Action Plan (SAP), a project adopted by the Iraqi Organization for Conservation of Nature (IOCN), we witness the serious degradation of the species’ habitats and breeding sites in Iraq in addition to their continuous decline in population. Being under-development document, we did not publish anything yet; however, we would like to briefly share you the current unpleasant status of MT in Iraq. – hope to finalize and publish it soon.
Best regards
Salwan Ali Abed
Iraq
Thanks for your effort in revising the global status.
Despite my long dream, I have not seen Marbled Teal in Georgia yet. Moreover, it has not been seen by anyone in Georgia for the last few decades. However, according to historical sources, this bird was known as a nesting bird in eastern Georgia.
Last year, we have updated the national red list according to IUCN criteria, and Marbled Teal was classified as Regionally Extinction.
Please, see the following link: http://biodiversity-georgia.net/index.php?scientificNameID=1426
Dear colleagues,Thank you for Revising global status of Marbled Teal.
Thanks to Richard for letting me know.
I agree with Richard Porter and Iraqi Experts .
I think currently the largest number of Marble Teals in the world are in the Mesopotamian wetlands of Iran and Iraq; in Iranian Part of Mesopotamian Marshes, Hur al-Azim (Hur al-Hawiza) which is connected to the wetlands of southern Iraq, Marbled Teals is common breeding bird but their number has decreased compared to the past.
I Observed 5,000 individuals of Marbled Teal in (27 August 2021 – 9 September 2021 ); Of course, I need better facilities for better research.
I took videos and photos of some of them(This high count) and some chicks in Breeding season.
Mesopotamian Marshes of Iran is safer and illegal hunting is combated .
I think the most important danger for Marbled Teal and Mesopotamian breeding species like Basra Reed Warbler ,Ferruginous Duck, Red-crested Pochard, also Mesopotamian(Maxwell’s) Smooth-coated Otter ,Long tailed Nesokia is habitat destruction!
Habitat destruction due to declining rivers; Water pollution; Large fires in wetlands.
Most destruction due to abundant dam construction upstream; Drought and climate change.
The prospect of habitat destruction is catastrophic; For example, the effects of New Dam like the Ilisu Dam on Tigris river have not yet been identified.
These create disaster conditions for the breeding species of Mesopotamian wetlands , Birds and Mammals. especially for Basra Reed Warbler ,Marbled Teal , Mesopotamian Smooth-coated and Long tailed Nesokia.
For these reasons, I also recommend to keep Marbled Teal as VU.
Unfortunately I think with these conditions, the conservation status of all these species will get worse.
Kind regards and Best wishes
Keramat Hafezi
Iran
Dear all,
Thank you for your effort in revising the global status of Marbled Teal.
I agree with Mr. Nicky Petkov about the status in Turkey. This species is probably extinct in Turkey now. A short summary in Turkey according to Kirwan et al. (2010) is given below:
32 pairs in 1987 in Çukurova Delta (Mediterranean) and c.50 pairs in both 1989 and 1991 in Göksu Delta (Mediterranean). In August 1967 over 2,000 and 450 were counted at Çukurova and Göksu deltas. Formerly bred at Lake Amik(Mediterranean), perhaps in significant numbers before this site was drained (Kumerloeve, 1963). Between 1980-90s, formerly bred in Ereğli Marshes (probably less than 5 pairs), Hotamış Marshes (10–15 pairs), Sultan Marshes (probably less than 5 pairs), and at the Yarma marshes (pair numbers are unknown; all these areas in Central Anatolia). Other areas in Central Anatolia, e.g. Lakes Moga and Eber were probably former nesting localities, but are almost certainly no longer suitable, in part due to habitat destruction and water pollution. In Eastern Anatolia, Lakes Ercis and Van had been confirmed breeding pairs in the past.
In 2010, 4-7 breeding pairs were observed in Göksu Delta (KAD, 2010). Between 2011 and 2013, only one pair was observed in the area and has not been seen in the breeding area since 2014 (Boyla et al., 2019). The last wintering record was in Hatay (Eastern Mediterranean coastal site).
Since November 2020, field studies have been conducted in known former breeding areas, potential breeding areas, and wintering areas in Anatolia by our team (Turkish Nature Research Society). But it was not recorded in any area. The field studies will continue until August 2022. However, there is no hope of finding the species, especially during the breeding season. In conclusion, the population in Turkey has continuously declined in the last decade and it is probably extinct now.
Best wishes.
You can find the references below.
Boyla, K. A., Sinav, L., & Dizdaroğlu, D. E. (2019). Türkiye Üreyen Kuş Atlası. WWF-Türkiye, Doğal Hayatı Koruma Vakfı, İstanbul.
Kirwan, G., Demirci, B., Welch, H., Boyla, K., Özen, M., Castell, P., & Marlow, T. (2010). The birds of Turkey. Bloomsbury Publishing.
Kumerloeve, H. 1963a. L’Avifaune du lac d’Antioche (Amik Gölü-Gölbasi) et de ses alentours. Alauda 30: 110–136, 161–211.
Thank you for your effort in revising the global status of Marbled Teal and give us a chance to give our knowledge in this species.
Down listing the species I believe will not helping the conservation of the species as the estimated population of species is far from the population in 1970’s. In the Arabian Peninsula our observation showed a decrease of records of the species. Neighbors countries showed decrease in the breeding populations. In Iraq as Mudafur mentioned the drying of some Mesopotamian wetland, in addition, pressure of hunting of this species still occur all year around in the marches. The new law In Saudi Arabia protected the threatened species, therefore down listing may affect the status of the species and will be listed in the hunting species which not needed with decrease of the migrating populations to the country.
Inconclusion, the slit increase of some European population is not presenting the an increase elsewhere and down listing the species may affect the species in the future.
Dear All,
Thank you for your very informative comments. Based on the data that was collected by Nature Iraq due to hunting and declining the water bodies in the Middle East and especially the Iraqi Marshlands due to the climate change/drought and building dams on the rivers that feed the Marshlands. Also, I agree with Mudhafar and other colleagues, Marbled Duck should be kept as Vulnerable (VU).
Best wishes
Many thanks to everyone who has contributed to this discussion. We greatly appreciate the time and effort invested by so many people in commenting. The window for consultation is now closed and we are unable to accept any more comments until 21 February 2022. We will now analyse and interpret the new information, and we will post a preliminary decision on this species’s Red List status on this page on 21 February 2022, when discussions will re-open.
Preliminary proposal
Based on available information, our proposal for the 2022.1 Red List is to pend the decision on this species and keep the discussion open, while leaving the current Red List category unchanged in the 2022.1 update.
There is now a period for further comments until the final deadline on 27 February 2022, after which the recommended categorisations will be put forward to IUCN.
The final 2022.1 Red List categories will be published on the BirdLife and IUCN websites in July 2022, following further checking of information relevant to the assessments by both BirdLife and IUCN.
The following comment was received from Moussa Houhamdi while the window for consultation was temporarily closed:
“The Marbled Teal is a very vulnerable species in Algeria. It behaves badly and its numbers are declining. The environments in which it lives are becoming more and more polluted and very busy with humans, which causes disturbances and limits its reproduction, which is becoming almost non-existent in the coastal wetlands. Those of the high plateaus have been practically dry for several years and those of the Sahara (southern Algeria) are poor in vegetation.”
Marbled Teal is really became now very rare and vulnerable species in India almost non-existent having hardly any record of sighting except a few during past several years due to highly disturbances, no new population record and largely the wetland habitats getting dried up or already dried due to global climate change impact with least rainfall. The Red List category of Marbled Teal should remain as Vulnerable (VU) or upgrade to Endangered (EN) category.
Many thanks to everyone who has contributed to this discussion. We greatly appreciate the time and effort invested by so many people in commenting. The window for consultation is now closed and we are unable to accept any more comments. We will analyse and interpret the new information, and we will post a final decision on this species’ Red List status on this page on 7 March 2022.
Recommended categorisations to be put forward to IUCN
Based on available information, our proposal for the 2022.1 Red List is to pend the decision on this species and keep the discussion open, while leaving the current Red List category unchanged in the 2022.1 update.
Many thanks for everyone who contributed to the 2022.1 GTB Forum process. The final 2022.1 Red List categories will be published on the BirdLife and IUCN websites in July 2022, following further checking of information relevant to the assessments by both BirdLife and IUCN.
this is a wise decision, thank you for carefully considering the proposed arguments
Dear All
Hope you are well.
In 19 June 2022 we observed 33 adult and 283 ducklings of Marbled Teals in part of Hour Al-Azeem Wetland ( Mesopotamian Marshes of Iran) in Khuzestan province , South West of Iran .
Kind and Best regards
Hi All,
Sorry for the second post, but I thought I should share with you our updated findings regarding MT in Iraq.
First, I would like to thank everybody for their objective input.
Right after our earlier discussions on MT on early Feb this year, our team in the Iraqi Organization for Conservation of Nature (IOCN) has set a plan to check the status of the 2022 breeding season of MT in one of Iraq’s key KBA/IBA, Dalmaj. Our plan was dedicated on surveying the breeding pairs of this species in Dalmaj where the results indicated to 35-45% decrease in breeding evidences in comparison with the highest observation that we’ve already recorded. Taken into consideration that the case with the hydrological conditions in Dalmaj wetlands is much better than of other wetlands within southern Iraq. Additionally, the waterfowl-hunting is still active as some hunters have been observed during our surveys.
Hope this be of help.
Mudhafar
IOCN, Iraq
Tout d’abord, je voudrais remercier mes différents prédécesseurs pour leurs analyses que je juge assez pertinentes. Pour ma part, la statut de cette espèce, le Sarcelle marbré peut demeurer vulnérable VU. Plusieurs raisons pourraient expliquer cela. Mais je vais me focaliser sur quelques unes, notamment son aire de répartition et ses habitats (zones humides). Avec les variabilités climatiques, il n’est pas évident de les conserver intacts pour les années à venir. Les habitats d’occurrences actuels du MT peuvent subir les impacts du changement climatique , notamment, en période estivale. Comme l’a mentionné Mudhafar A Salim, les zones humides concernées souffrent de manque d’eau à cause des barrages; Aussi faudrait-il ajouter d’autres menaces telles que les pressions anthropiques diverses (braconnages et urbanisations).
Au regard de tout ce qui précèdent, je proposerais de conserver le statut vulnérable de MT. Bien que Wetlands International (2021) ait publier des résultats sur une hausse de sa population, je pense que cela n’est pas suffisant pour la reclasser LC. Un temps d’observation sur les 5 ou 10 années à venir pourraient confirmer ces tendances sur la population du MT.
The status of the species in Morocco.
In the mid-1990s, the Marbled Teal was breeding at only 3-4 Moroccan sites and the population size was estimated at between 20-40 pairs. Since then, the species started to recolonize several sites from where it disappeared earlier. The range expansion continued with the colonization of new sites on the edge of desert areas, where it was absent in the past.
However, habitat suitability at the majority of these sites is governed by water levels which is heavily influenced by droughts and other factors such as water use (irrigation,…). Consequently, the population size at these sites can fluctuate from year to year, and the species can stop breeding in some years. Essentially, the Marbled Teal at these sites act like a nomadic species who tracks breeding conditions on a year-to-year basis.
For the wintering population, the results of the winter waterbirds census showed that it’s stable at about the same annual average of 2000 individuals for the following three periods: 2001-2005 (El Agbani et al. 2017), 2006-2010 (Qninba et al. 2017) and 2011-2015 (Ouassou et al. 2017).
Based on all of these combined, I would not down-list the current category (Vulnerable) to Least Concern.
References:
El Agbani, M. A., Dakki, M., Benhoussa, A., Radi, M., El Hamoumi, R., Chillasse, L. & Qninba, A. (2017). Recensement hivernal d’oiseaux d’eau au Maroc 2001-2005. Travaux de l’Institut Scientifique, Rabat, série Zoologie n°53.
Ouassou, A., Dakki, M., El Agbani, M. A., Radi, M., El Idrissi Essougrati, A., Lahrouz, S. & Qninba, A. (2017). Recensement hivernal d’oiseaux d’eau au Maroc 2011-2015. Travaux de l’Institut Scientifique, Rabat, série Zoologie n°55.
Qninba, A., Ouassou, A., Radi, M., El Agbani, M. A., Boumaâza, M., Amezian, M. & Dakki, M. (2017). Recensement hivernal d’oiseaux d’eau au Maroc 2006-2010. Travaux de l’Institut Scientifique, Rabat, série Zoologie n°54.
Mohamed
GREPOM/BirdLife Morocco
In Italy the Marbled Teal was considered as an irregular vagrant during the past century. The species bred for the first time in 2000; since then it has been regularly recorded every year but with a very low number of pairs (1-3). Breeding occurs in small Mediterranean wetlands in two distant areas (isles of Sardinia and Sicily). During the last 23 years the number of individuals has not increased. For that reason, in 2021 a restocking program with captive-bred birds coming from Spain was started in Sicily.
In the most updated Italian Red List MT is classifies as “Endangered” (Gustin et al 2019). Data from Italy do not suggest that the MT population is currently increasing.
Given the status in Italy and information coming from other areas in the MT breeding range, I agree with the proposal to keep the MT as Vulnerable.
Best regards
Gustin M., Nardelli R., Brichetti P., Battistoni A., Rondinini C., Teofili C. (eds.), 2019. Lista Rossa IUCN degli uccelli nidificanti in Italia 2019. Comitato Italiano IUCN e Ministero dell’Ambiente e della Tutela del Territorio e del Mare, Roma.
I have been following Marbled Teal breeding population in SE Sicily since 2005, and I can confirm that since then there has been no increase in the population. Since 2019 I am the project manager of LIFE Marbled duck PSSO project which aims at increasing breeding and wintering population of MT in SE Sicily (and then hopefully from there, in the whole Sicily and Southern Italy) through restocking and habitat improvements (mainly reduce disturbance and direct impact and increase available breeding niches). Despite delays caused by Covid 19 outbreak at the very early stages of the project, evidences collected so far show that increasing breeding pairs number is nor an easy nor an immediate result to be reached. Francisco Botella wrote in his comment that basically without massive restocking occured in Spain in recent years, Spanish population would be extinct; I can confirm on the basis of my though limited experience that results are not granted and quite slow to come, if any.
After reading all previous comments to this topic, I can’t remember any of them reporting positive trends or being optimistic about MT global population, I think this speaks for itself.
I would strongly recommend to keep MT as Vulnerable, and moreover I feel to share T K Roy’s recommendation to eventually upgrade MT status to Endangered (EN) category.
[Senegal]
We have contacted our network of volunteers and experts who are working to complete the information on the Marbled Teal. In the meantime, we provide you with the information taken from Borrow & Demey (2011). Indeed, these authors note that the Marbled Teal (Marmaronetta angustirostris) is a Palaearctic migratory species with very small numbers (mainly December-February). It frequents freshwater and coastal wetlands. It is relatively shy and often hides in emergent vegetation. In Senegal, it mainly frequents the Djoudj and also the Niokolo-koba.
With kind regards
Many thanks to everyone who has contributed to this discussion. We greatly appreciate the time and effort invested by so many people in commenting. The window for consultation is now closed and we are unable to accept any more comments until 18 July 2022. We will now analyse and interpret the new information, and we will post a preliminary decision on this species’ Red List status on this page on 18 July 2022, when discussions will re-open.
Preliminary proposal
Based on new information submitted via this discussion, the Red List status of Marbled Teal has been reassessed.
We now recognise that the overall population may be undergoing a moderately rapid decline. However, there are several caveats that must be considered. For example, although there is evidence to suggest that a rate of moderately rapid to rapid population decline can be suspected in the Mesopotamian marshes of Iran and Iraq (particularly due to the continued impacts of threats such as habitat destruction through wetland disturbance and drainage, climate change and hunting), the conservation status of the species elsewhere in its range is complicated. It has undergone several increases and periods of stability across subpopulations in the Western Mediterranean and North Africa, for example. Its status across South Asia also remains uncertain (partly due to difficulty in interpreting clear population trends due to changing water levels and its nomadic behaviour). It is difficult to interpret the situation in Iberia, mainly due to reintroduction programmes that may have created inflated population estimates, but which cannot be considered genuine without proper establishment of reintroduced individuals. Also, while acknowledging the rapid declines and possible local extinctions in countries like Turkey, it is very unlikely that the majority of the global population has been affected.
It must also be noted that the generation length of the species (recalculated using the methods outlined in Bird et al. 2020) is now estimated at 4.05 years. As such, population trends for the Red List must be considered over 12.15 years (i.e., three generation lengths), which is significantly shorter than the period used in previous Red List assessments, making a rate of decline exceeding 30% over three generations less likely.
Taking these factors into account and reflecting the uncertainty about the species’ status across much of its range, but recognising that declines are present, we suspect the species’ population may be declining overall at a rate of 20-29% over three generations, with similar rates projected in the future due to ongoing threats. Therefore, our revised preliminary proposal for the 2022.2 Red List is to list Marbled Teal as Near Threatened, approaching the threshold for listing as threatened under Criteria A2cd+3cd+4cd.
There is now a period for further comments until the final deadline on 24 July 2022, after which the recommended categorisations will be put forward to IUCN. The final 2022.2 Red List categories will be published on the BirdLife and IUCN websites in December 2022, following further checking of information relevant to the assessments by both BirdLife and IUCN.
Many thanks to everyone who has contributed to this discussion. We greatly appreciate the time and effort invested by so many people in commenting. The window for consultation is now closed and we are unable to accept any more comments. We will analyse and interpret the new information, and we will post a final decision on this species’ Red List status on this page on 1 August 2022.
Recommended categorisation to be put forward to IUCN
The final categorisation for this species has not changed. Marbled Teal is recommended to be listed as Near Threatened, approaching the threshold for listing as threatened under Criteria A2cd+3cd+4cd.
Many thanks for everyone who contributed to the 2022.2 GTB Forum process. The final 2022.2 Red List categories will be published on the BirdLife and IUCN websites in December 2022, following further checking of information relevant to the assessments by both BirdLife and IUCN.