Barrow's Goldeneye

Bucephala islandica

Description 3

Adults are similar in appearance to the common goldeneye. On average, adult males are 48.8 centimeters (19.2 inches) long and weigh 1.0 kilograms (2.13 lb); females are typically 43.2 centimeters (17.0 inches) long and weigh 0.6 kilograms (1.31 pounds). Adult males have a dark head with a purplish gloss and a white crescent at the front of the face. Adult females have a mostly yellow bill. The male Barrow's goldeneye differs from the male common goldeneye in the fact that the common goldeneye has a round white patches on the face, less black on the back of the bird, and a larger bill. For the females, the common goldeneye has a less rounded head, and a bill in which only the tip is yellow.

The Barrow's goldeneye is a relatively quiet bird that generally only makes vocalizations during the breeding season and courtship. These can include low volume squeaks, grunts and croaks. During flights, the fast movement of the bird's wings creates a low whistling sound.

"cool facts" 4

A medium-sized black-and-white diving duck, the Barrow's Goldeneye was originally described from a population living in Iceland. It is, however, primarily a duck of the western mountains of North America. The Barrow's Goldeneye is rather long-lived for a duck, with one individual reaching 18 years of age. Most females do not breed until they are three years old. Like the Common Goldeneye, the Barrow's Goldeneye is not too particular about holding on to its own offspring. A female may lay eggs in the nest of another goldeneye or other species of cavity-nesting duck. Once the ducklings come out of the nest, the broods of different females often come together and are taken care of by a single female. The young ducklings are highly independent, feeding on their own, and require little parental care. For a species with such widely separated populations, it is perhaps surprising that the Barrow's Goldeneye shows little variation from place to place. Those breeding in North America are essentially identical on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. Female Barrow's Goldeneyes breeding in Iceland do not get as extensively yellow bills as the North American birds, but have only a yellow or orangish band on the outer third of the otherwise dusky bill.

Sources and Credits

  1. (c) Doug Greenberg, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND), http://www.flickr.com/photos/25397257@N00/2123813550
  2. (c) roy pilcher, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by roy pilcher
  3. (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barrow's_goldeneye
  4. Public Domain, http://eol.org/data_objects/27673906

More Info

Range Map

iNaturalist.ca Map

Animal Bird
Bird Ducks Geese & Swans (Anatidae)
Color black, brown, grey, white