Barrow's goldeneye
Bucephala islandica
Identification Tips:
- Medium-sized diving duck
- Yellow eye
- Steeply sloped forehead with flatter crown and
peak at forward part of crown
- Small, stubby bill
- White patches on the secondaries and secondary coverts visible in
flight
- Juvenile similar to adult female but usually with darker bill
Adult male alternate:
- Alternate plumage worn from fall through early summer
- Glossy purplish head
- Crescent-shaped white patch between eye and bill
- White neck, breast and belly
- Dark back
- Black scapulars with row of rectangular white spots
- Dark tail, upper- and under-tail coverts
- White patch on wing split by black bar
Adult male basic:
- Eclipse-plumage male like adult female but with darker bill and
sometimes darker head
Adult female:
- Usually has an all-yellow bill
- White patch on wing split by two black bars
- Reddish-brown head
- Gray body plumage, paler on the breast and darker on the back
Similar species:
Section still in preparation.