Common Goldeneye

Common Goldeneye (male)

Common Goldeneye
Bucephala clangula

Family: (Anatidae) Ducks, Geese, and Swans

Preferred Habitat: Coastal bays

Seasonal Occurrence: Uncommon November through March.

Notes by Susan Billetdeaux: One of the Sea Ducks, Common Goldeneyes are also called "Whistlers", because in flight their rapid wingbeats make a whistling sound. This can be a good identification aid. The sound is loudest for males; females can be almost silent. Common Goldeneyes are most likely found in coastal waters in our area. The Texas City Dike is a very productive location. Males are distinctive with their white round spot between eye and bill. Females lack the spot and have brown heads and necks. Juveniles resemble females but lack the female's white wing patch.

Common Goldeneye (female)

Profile by Theresa Kelly: What’s black and white and flies all over? The aptly named Common Goldeneye can be identified by its bright amber eye, an easily distinguishable feature in both males and females. As is common to many avian species, females are less vividly colored, with a brown head and gray-white body, while the males boast a distinct dark green head, sharply defined white cheek patch, and black-and-white body and wings. The Goldeneye’s beak is relatively short and narrow compared to other ducks, sloping smoothly downward from the face and lending the head a very triangular overall shape. Generally similar in appearance to Barrow’s Goldeneye, the Common Goldeneye occupies a much wider range across North America and is the only one to call the Gulf Coast home. Common Goldeneyes also have a more evenly rounded head than Barrow’s, peaked in the center of the crown, and a longer, straighter-edged bill.

Common Goldeneyes are diving ducks. They often forage in flocks, diving in shallow waters for crustaceans, aquatic insects, and mollusks. Migratory by nature, they breed in North American boreal forests (mainly throughout Alaska and Canada) and winter on coastal waters from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Northwest, although they can be found throughout wintertime on inland lakes as well. As cavity nesters, they typically choose natural tree cavities for their nesting sites, but — like Wood Ducks — will readily make use of nesting boxes when available and may even return to the same box year after year. Goldeneye ducklings are precocial — they leave the nest only a day after hatching. They can feed themselves immediately and require only protection from Mom. Nuclear families are not always the norm either: some females will abandon their broods soon after hatching, whereupon the young join another female in a mixed brood known as a “creche.”

Although they are considered relatively rare for the Houston area, the Common Goldeneye can best be found in shallow waters around wetlands. A small flock of Common Goldeneyes were spotted during a recent Houston Audubon bird survey on High Island beach, diving for food in a large pond in the saltmarshes. If you spot them, make sure to keep a sharp eye (no pun intended) on them — they tend to disappear under the surface while foraging, but they will resurface after a minute or so. You can also listen for their call; in flight, they make a distinct trilling sound that lends them the colloquial name “whistlers.”

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Common Goldeneye (female)

Common Goldeneye (male)

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