Common & Barrow's Goldeneyes

Last week, on the day after Christmas, I was given a surprise gift from the birds themselves: one beautiful Barrow's Goldeneye hidden amongst a flock of a dozen Common Goldeneyes.  Barrow's Goldeneyes are by far the less common of the two species, and I had pretty much given up any hope of seeing one in 2017.  But there in my e-mail inbox, on December 26th, was a rare bird alert from e-Bird for a Barrow's Goldeneye that had been seen on the Stanislaus River near the town of Knight's Ferry.  Serendipitously, my dad called me up to see if I had time to do a little birding that afternoon, and away we went, headed for the hills. 

Sure enough, we found one beautiful male Barrow's Goldeneye mixed in with a flock of Common Goldeneyes, swimming placidly in a quiet pool along the Stanislaus River.  From the cliffs above, we had an excellent view and watched the flock for quite some time.  See if you can spot the Barrow's Goldeneye in the photo below; it's a little like playing one of those "which one of these is not like the others" games!

Flock of Common Goldeneyes, with a surprise: one Barrow's Goldeneye, the second duck from the left in this photo.

Goldeneyes are diving ducks, feeding on fish and aquatic invertebrates.  They typically forage in water that is less than 20 feet deep, and whole flocks often dive underwater simultaneously (a behavior I have witnessed).  Both goldeneye species breed and spend their summers in North America's boreal forests (primarily in Canada and Alaska), with the Barrow's Goldeneye restricted to the west. 

Like Wood Ducks and mergansers, goldeneyes nest in tree cavities along the edges of bodies of water and are known to use man-made nest boxes.  After breeding, goldeneyes migrate south for the winter, from northern forests to the continental United States where they spend the coldest months on lakes and rivers as well as in coastal waters.  The Barrow's Goldeneye stays in the west, while the Common Goldeneye ranges across the country.

Less than ideal photos... due to maxing out the zoom capacity of my camera!

If you get the chance to go birding this winter (and I certainly hope you do - more than once!) keep an eye out for these beautiful winter visitors. 

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