Common goldeneye
Bucephala clangula
Identification Tips:
- Medium-sized diving duck
- Yellow eye
- Gently sloped forehead
- Black bill is small, but larger than in Barrow's Goldeneye
- White patches on the secondaries and secondary coverts visible in
flight
- Immature female is similar to the adult female, immature male is
like adult female but has a white breast,a darker head and a trace
of the male's white patch before the eye
Adult male alternate:
- Alternate plumage worn from fall through early summer
- Glossy greenish head
- White circular patch below eye on face
- White lower neck, breast, belly and flanks
- Dark back
- White scapulars with black striping
Adult male basic:
Adult female:
- Reddish-brown head
- Dark-based bill with light patch at tip
- Gray body, paler on the breast and darker on the back
- White patch on wing split by two dark bands
Similar species:
We are still arguing about this!