24-406: Barrow's goldeneye ( Bucephala islandica ) is a medium-sized sea duck of the genus Bucephala , the goldeneyes. This bird was named after Sir John Barrow . The genus name is derived from Ancient Greek boukephalos , "bullheaded", from bous , "bull" and kephale , "head", a reference to the bulbous head shape of the bufflehead . The species name islandica means Iceland. Barrow's goldeneye
48-460: A form of territorial display along the boundaries of their territory. This is both true on land and in the water. These territorial displays average about 6 minutes in length and often trigger other males to perform their own show. Very little is known about the breeding sites and patterns of the Barrow's goldeneye. After the breeding season, the birds migrate to specific molting sites to undergo molting,
72-446: A wingspan of 77–83 cm (30–33 in). The species is named for its golden-yellow eyes. Adult males have a dark head with a greenish gloss and a circular white patch below the eye, a dark back and a white neck and belly. Adult females have a brown head and a mostly grey body. Their legs and feet are orange-yellow. The subspecies B. c. americana has a longer and thicker bill than the nominate B. c. clangula . Their breeding habitat
96-628: Is crustaceans , 28% is aquatic insects and 10% is molluscs . Insects are the predominant prey while nesting and crustaceans are the predominant prey during migration and winter. Locally, fish eggs and aquatic plants can be important foods. They themselves may fall prey to various hawks , owls and eagles , while females and their broods have been preyed upon by bears ( Ursus spp.), various weasels ( Mustela spp.), mink ( Mustela vison ), raccoons ( Procyon lotor ) and even northern flickers ( Colaptes auratus ) and American red squirrels ( Tamiasciurus hudsonicus ). The common goldeneye
120-886: Is a breadth of 42.6–44.0 mm (1.68–1.73 in), a length of 58.1–60.6 mm (2.29–2.39 in) and a weight of 61.2–66.6 g (2.16–2.35 oz). The incubation period ranges from 28 to 32 days. The female does all the incubating and is abandoned by the male about 1 to 2 weeks into incubation. The young remain in the nest for about 24–36 hours. Brood parasitism is quite common with other common goldeneyes, and occurs less frequently with other duck species. The broods commonly start to mix with other females' broods as they become more independent or are abandoned by their mothers. Goldeneye young have been known to be competitively killed by other goldeneye mothers, common loons and red-necked grebes . The young are capable of flight at 55–65 days of age. Common goldeneyes are diving birds that forage under water. Year-round, about 32% of their prey
144-610: Is a medium-sized sea duck of the genus Bucephala , the goldeneyes . Its closest relative is the similar Barrow's goldeneye . The genus name is derived from the Ancient Greek boukephalos ("bullheaded", from bous , "bull " and kephale , "head"), a reference to the bulbous head shape of the bufflehead . The species name is derived from the Latin clangere ("to resound"). Common goldeneyes are aggressive and territorial ducks, and have elaborate courtship displays. The common goldeneye
168-460: Is an extremely rare vagrant to western Europe and to southern North America. These diving birds forage underwater. They eat aquatic insects, crustaceans and pond vegetation. The main staples of the bird's diet are Gammarus oceanicus and Calliopius laeviusculus , which are both marine crustaceans. A large part of their diet consists of mussels and gastropods. The Barrow's goldeneye is considered an arboreal bird species because much of its nesting
192-405: Is done in cavities found in mature trees. The birds will also nest in burrows or protected sites on the ground. Barrow's goldeneyes tend not to share habitat with the much more numerous common goldeneye . Barrow's goldeneye tend to be territorial towards other birds venturing into their domain. This is especially true among the drakes. Confrontations may occur in the form of fighting. Drakes often do
216-421: Is from Ancient Greek oukephalos meaning "bullheaded" or "large-headed". The specific epithet is from Latin "clangere" meaning "to resound". Two subspecies are recognised: Adult males range from 45–51 cm (18–20 in) and weigh approximately 1,000 g (2.2 lb), while females range from 40–50 cm (16–20 in) and weigh approximately 800 g (1.8 lb). The common goldeneye has
240-430: Is now placed with the common goldeneye and the bufflehead in the genus Bucephala that was introduced in 1858 by American naturalist Spencer Baird . The genus name is derived from Ancient Greek boukephalos , meaning "bullheaded", from bous "bull", and kephale , "head. The specific epithet islandica is for Iceland. The species is monotypic : no subspecies are recognised. Adults are similar in appearance to
264-752: Is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds ( AEWA ) applies. Around 188,300 common goldeneyes were killed annually by duck hunters in North America during the 1970s, representing slightly less than 4% of the total waterfowl killed in Canada during that period, and less than 1% of the total waterfowl killed in the US. Both the breeding and winter habitats of these birds have been degraded by clearance and pollution. However,
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#1732884213247288-696: Is the taiga . They are found in the lakes and rivers of boreal forests across Canada and the northern United States, Scotland , Scandinavia , the Baltic States , and northern Russia . They are migratory and most winter in protected coastal waters or open inland waters at more temperate latitudes. Naturally, they nest in cavities in large trees, where they return year after year, though they will readily use nest boxes as well. Natural tree cavities chosen for nest sites include those made by broken limbs and those made by large woodpeckers, specifically pileated woodpeckers or black woodpeckers . Average egg size
312-459: The Anatinae . The taxonomy of this group is incomplete. Some authorities separate the group as a subfamily, while others remove some genera. Most species within the group spend their winters near coastal waters. Many species have developed specialized salt glands to allow them to tolerate salt water, but these are poorly developed in juveniles. Some of the species prefer riverine habitats. All but two of
336-453: The common goldeneye . On average, adult males are 19.2 in (49 cm) long and weigh 2.13 lb (970 g); females are typically 17 in (43 cm) long and weigh 1.31 lb (590 g). The Barrow's goldeneye has a wingspan of 27.6-28.7 in (70-73 cm). 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
360-442: The 22 species in this group live in far northern latitudes. The fish-eating members of this group, such as the mergansers and smew , have serrated edges to their bills to help them grip their prey and are often known as "sawbills". Other sea ducks forage by diving underwater, taking molluscs or crustaceans from the sea floor. The Mergini take on the eclipse plumage during the late summer and molt into their breeding plumage during
384-419: The birds in these areas decreased after the spill. The birds' exposure to the oil spill mainly occurred in the shallow water mussel beds along the coast. Sea duck Clangula Histrionicus Polysticta † Camptorhynchus Somateria Melanitta Bucephala Mergellus Lophodytes Mergus The sea ducks ( Mergini ) are a tribe of the duck subfamily of birds ,
408-476: The breeding season, then leave for the molting site. Mating pairs often stay intact even though the male and female are apart for long periods of time over the summer during molting times. The pair then reunites at wintering areas. In Iceland the bird is known as húsönd (house-duck); it is a common species of the Lake Mývatn in the north of the country. There have been three records of vagrants from Scotland,
432-425: The fast movement of the bird's wings creates a low whistling sound. Their breeding habitat consists of wooded lakes and ponds primarily in northwestern North America , but also in scattered locations in eastern Canada and Iceland . Females return to the same breeding sites year after year and also tend to use the same nesting sites. The males stay with their mate through the winter and defend their territory during
456-466: The loss and regeneration of feathers which causes them to be flightless for anywhere from 20–40 days. These molting sites are often wetlands that are more drought resistant and plentiful in food, along with being less influenced by humans and predators. The Barrow's goldeneye was greatly affected by the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989. The spill greatly impacted the bird's wintering areas, and numbers of
480-489: 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, a greenish gloss, 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,
504-464: The only records of this species accepted as wild in Europe outside of Iceland. They are migratory and most winter in protected coastal waters or open inland waters. Barrow's goldeneye, along with many other species of sea ducks, rely on urbanized, coastal estuaries as important places on their migration patterns. These estuaries provide excellent wintering and stopping places during the ducks' migration. It
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#1732884213247528-894: The winter. There are twenty-two species in ten genera : Below is a phylogeny based on a mitogenomic study of the placement of the Labrador duck and the diving "goose" Chendytes lawi . Clangula hyemalis Histrionicus histrionicus Polysticta stelleri † Camptorhynchus labradorius Somateria fischeri Somateria mollissima Somateria spectabilis Melanitta nigra Melanitta deglandi Melanitta perspicillata Bucephala albeola Bucephala clangula Bucephala islandica Mergellus albellus Mergus serrator Lophodytes cucullatus Mergus merganser Mergus octosetaceus Mergus squamatus Common goldeneye (Eurasian goldeneye) (American goldeneye) The common goldeneye or simply goldeneye ( Bucephala clangula )
552-530: Was formally described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Anas clangula . Linnaeus specified the type location as Europe but in 1761 restricted this to Sweden. The common goldeneye is now one of three species placed in the genus Bucephala that was introduced in 1858 by the American naturalist Spencer Baird . The genus name
576-482: Was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus 's Systema Naturae . He placed it with the ducks, geese and swans in the genus Anas and coined the binomial name Anas islandica . Gmelin based his description on the "Hravn Oend" that had been briefly described in 1776 by Danish naturalist Otto Friedrich Müller . Barrow's goldeneye
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