The range of the Barrow’s Goldeneye includes North America and Iceland. North America has two separate and distinct populations: a western population and an eastern one. The larger western population is located west of the Rocky Mountains ranging from southern Alaska to as far south as localized occurrences in San Francisco Bay, and the eastern population is limited to a small section of eastern Canada’s maritime provinces (including southeastern Quebec) and the northeastern United States. The core breeding population of Barrow’s Goldeneyes is in interior British Columbia. (“Sea Duck Information Series: Barrow’s Goldeneye.”)

Despite geographic and genetic isolation, the eastern and western populations of North American Barrow’s Goldeneyes are basically identical. The only notable difference being, females of the Iceland population do not have as much yellow on their bills as North American birds. (Eadie et al, 2000)

Most populations of Barrow’s Goldeneyes migrate seasonally and winter on a different type of habitat than the type of habitat where they breed. All Barrow’s Goldeneyes breed on inland bodies of freshwater, and most winter in marine habitats; specific populations in the northern U.S. Rocky Mountains and Cascade ranges live inland year-round and breed on inland bodies of water without ice, and other North American populations leave their inland breeding grounds for separate inland winter grounds. (“Sea Duck Information Series: Barrow’s Goldeneye.”)

Small, clear boreal lakes without fish are the preferred breeding grounds. Barrow’s Goldeneyes nest in tree cavities and favor mature forests that offer more suitable nesting sites. Birds that winter on the coast use protected bays and inlets and estuaries, preferably with rocky shores. (“Barrow’s Goldeneye.” BirdWeb.)

Evergreen’s Eld Inlet beaches are wintering sites for Barrow’s Goldeneyes; they are not here year-round. The highest concentrations of goldeneyes on Evergreen campus are at Snyder Cove. (Peelor, 2012)

The diet of Barrow’s Goldeneye consists of aquatic invertebrates, crustaceans, mollusks,  fish, and fish eggs. Diet is dependent on season and habitat – breeding goldeneyes have a different diet than nonbreeding, and goldeneyes feeding in saltwater environments have different diets from goldeneyes feeding in freshwater ones. (“Barrow’s Goldeneye.” Boreal Songbird Initiative)

Breeding Barrow’s Goldeneyes on freshwater mostly eat aquatic insects. In the winter, goldeneyes wintering in marine habitats mostly eat mollusks (especially mussels,) crustaceans, fish and sometimes fish eggs. Goldeneyes also sometimes feed on aquatic vegetation regardless of season or environment. (“Barrow’s Goldeneye.” BirdWeb.)

Barrow’s Goldeneyes feed in relatively shallow water close to shore by diving and sometimes dabbling on the surface for food. Dives are usually only 1-3 meters below the surface of the water, which is shallow for a diving bird. (“Barrow’s Goldeneye.” Boreal Songbird Initiative)

Wings make a distinctive whistle in flight.

Barrow’s Goldeneyes are possibly long-lived ducks, boasting a record-holding individual that lived to be 18 years in the wild. Females do not reach sexual maturity until their third year, males until their second or third. (Eadie et al, 2000)

Barrow’s Goldeneyes are monogamous and often form long-lasting pair bonds. Many duck species exhibit behavior of forced copulation, but this is not true for any Bucephala duck. Barrow’s Goldeneyes also copulate during winter and during incubation, likely to strengthen the pair bond. (Savard, 1985)

Pair bonds initially form following elaborate courtship displays in winter and early spring, and if the bond holds the pair will reunite on the same breeding territory and winter territory year after year. Females have a high rate of natal philopatry and return to breed on the same territory where they were born. Bonded male and female goldeneyes defend their shared territory on their breeding and winter grounds, both together and independently. (Eadie et al, 2000)

Tree cavities are the preferred nest site, but Barrow’s Goldeneyes take readily to nest boxes and will also nest in rock crevices, abandoned buildings, vacated burrows, and ground bushes and shrubs. The female lays 6-12 eggs with 9 as the average and incubates for 19-31 days. At the onset of incubation, the male leaves and joins up with other breeding males and non-breeding conspecific ducks for their molt migration. (“Barrow’s Goldeneye.” BirdWeb.)

Precocial young leave the nest after one or two days and are capable of feeding themselves under the watch of their mother. Broods sometimes join other broods in large crèches of mixed families, especially if a female abandons a brood early or if broods become mixed in territory disputes. Both conspecific brood parasatism and crèching behaviors have been observed in Barrow’s Goldeneyes and it is not always clear which behavior is happening. Mothers abandon their young when they are around 5-6 weeks of age, though they do not fledge until 8-9 weeks. (“Barrow’s Goldeneye.” BirdWeb.)

Female goldeneyes are fiercely territorial and highly aggressive when they are with young, and have been observed killing ducklings of conspecifics and related species. Barrow’s Goldeneyes are in general very aggressive and territorial, and when a pair is together they work together to defend their territory. They are most aggressive towards members of the same species, then other Bucephala ducks (which they are consistently dominant over in displays of aggression,) other diving ducks, and then dabbling ducks, though many times dabbling ducks are simply ignored. Defense of territory seems to stem from defense of the food source: the other waterfowl Barrow’s Goldeneyes are most aggressive towards share similar feeding habits and diets. However, only paired birds defending territory show such aggression – non-paired and non-breeding individuals group in flocks and feed cooperatively. (Savard et al, 1987)

Barrow’s Goldeneyes undergo three major annual movements: a spring migration from winter grounds to breeding grounds, a summer movement of the males to their collective molting areas, and a fall migration to the wintering areas. They usually have a later fall migration than other duck species. Paired birds travel to the spring breeding grounds by themselves and reunite with their mate in their traditional territory, while non-paired birds travel in groups. Non-breeding birds sometimes fly directly to the molting grounds, bypassing the breeding grounds altogether. (“Barrow’s Goldeneye.” Boreal Songbird Initiative)

The western North American population of Barrow’s Goldeneyes represents 90% of the global population and the bulk of that population breeds in interior British Columbia. (“Barrow’s Goldeneye.” BirdWeb.) Barrow’s Goldeneyes have a relatively small global population, estimated under 200,000 individuals. (“Barrow’s Goldeneye.” Boreal Songbird Initiative) The eastern North American population is estimated around 4,000 birds and while both North American populations are believed to be stable, the small size of the eastern population earned it the designation of “Species of Special Concern” in eastern Canada. (“Sea Duck Information Series: Barrow’s Goldeneye.”)

Barrow’s Goldeneyes rely on preexisting tree cavities for nest sites and in this way are tied to the health of the boreal forests where they breed. The main conservation concern for this species is the availability of these cavity nest sites and the reduction of available sites by logging; the greatest threat from forest harvest is in the crucial core breeding area of interior British Columbia. Fortunately, goldeneyes readily use nest boxes, so careful forest management and habitat augmentation via nest box should help mitigate for loss of potential nest sites due to removal of older trees and snags. (“Sea Duck Information Series: Barrow’s Goldeneye.”)

Recreational use and development of lakes used for breeding is another conservation concern. The introduction of fish to fish-less lakes could potentially disrupt goldeneye breeding, as Barrow’s Goldeneyes prefer small lakes that cannot support natural fish life, possibly because of competition with fish over aquatic insects. (“Sea Duck Information Series: Barrow’s Goldeneye.”) (Lake acidification due to human impact may even benefit goldeneyes, because they can survive and thrive in water too acidic for fish.) (“Barrow’s Goldeneye.” Boreal Songbird Initiative)

As aquatic predators, Barrow’s Goldeneyes are at risk from ingesting high levels of  heavy metals and other industrial and/or agricultural contaminants bioaccumulated in the shellfish they eat. (“Sea Duck Information Series: Barrow’s Goldeneye.”) Just as the health of goldeneye populations are tied to the health of the forests where they breed, the health of goldeneye populations are dependent on the health of the intertidal zones of their winter grounds. As such, oil spills have the potential to devastate a wintering population – Barrow’s Goldeneyes have strong site-fidelity and group in the same small localized areas year after year, and the destruction of winter habitat would completely displace the birds that traditionally wintered there. Barrow’s Goldeneyes also have low productivity – all this would make it slow and difficult for a population to rebound after significant losses. (“Barrow’s Goldeneye.” BirdWeb.)(“Barrow’s Goldeneye.” Boreal Songbird Initiative)

The overall global population of Barrow’s Goldeneye is stable, but the population is small enough and potentially vulnerable enough to environmental change to merit careful monitoring. (“Barrow’s Goldeneye.” Boreal Songbird Initiative)

“Barrow’s Goldeneye.” Barrow’s Goldeneye. Boreal Songbird Initiative, n.d. Web. 03 Dec. 2012. <http://www.borealbirds.org/birdguide/bd0409_species.shtml>.

“Barrow’s Goldeneye.” BirdWeb. Seattle Audobon Society, n.d. Web. 03 Dec. 2012. <http://www.birdweb.org/birdweb/bird/barrows_goldeneye>.

Eadie, J. M., J.-P. L. Savard, and M. L. Mallory. 2000. Barrow’s Goldeneye (Bucephala islandica). In The Birds of North America, No. 548 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.
<http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Barrows_Goldeneye/lifehistory>.

Eadie, John M., Jean-Pierre L. Savard and Mark L. Mallory. 2000. Barrow’s Goldeneye (Bucephala islandica), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology; Retrieved from the Birds of North America Online: http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/548
doi:10.2173/bna.548

Gauthier, Gilles. “Further Evidence of Long-Term Pair Bonds in Ducks of the Genus Bucephala.” The Auk 104.3 (1987): 521-22. Print.
Published by: University of California Press on behalf of the American Ornithologists’ Union
Article DOI: 10.2307/4087554
Article Stable URL: http://0-www.jstor.org.cals.evergreen.edu/stable/4087554

Peelor, Elisabeth, 2012. Ornithology Field Journal. Fall 2012. Evergreen State College campus.

Savard, Jean-Pierre L., and James N. M. Smith. “Interspecific Aggression by Barrow’s Goldeneye: A Descriptive and Functional Analysis.” Behaviour 102.3/4 (1987): 168-84. Print.
Published by: BRILL
Article Stable URL: http://0-www.jstor.org.cals.evergreen.edu/stable/4534620

“Sea Duck Information Series: Barrow’s Goldeneye.” Sea Duck Joint Venture. Sea Duck Joint Venture, Oct. 2003. Web. 03 Dec. 2012. <http://seaduckjv.org/infoseries/bago_sppfactsheet.pdf>.

Sibley, A. D. 2003. The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Western North America. Knopf, New York.

Elisabeth Peelor is an undergraduate student at The Evergreen State College who may or may not just be a bird with thumbs and a keyboard. She is a resident of the Puget Sound region who winters in the San Francisco Bay area. (Sightings have been recorded as far southeast as Florida, but she is primarily a bird of the Pacific Northwest.) Elisabeth requires intact temperate rainforest for nesting and foraging and prefers ready access to large bodies of saltwater. She enjoys wildlife photography, classic rock, literary analysis, and all of the birds everywhere forever with a particular focus on corvids and raptors. She aims to earn a Masters degree in environmental studies and pursue a career in environmental justice and coastal rainforest restoration on the Olympic Peninsula.

Must love scavenging for carrion.