Common Goldeneye, the Bond of Ducks

These ducks get their name for the beautiful amber eyes that contrast with their darker, mullet-y heads. Males have a green-black head and black and white body and wings. Females have a chocolate brown head and mottled black and white body. Fast in flight, their wings make a whistling sound, earning them the hunters’ name of ‘Whistler.’

They share some similar behaviors with Wood Ducks, nesting in tree cavities or nest boxes, often using the same nest site year after year. Hence, the downy chicks jump up to 40 feet after hatching to the mother’s call. They can feed themselves but need protecting. 

Goldeneyes are diving ducks, eating mostly aquatic insects, worms, small fish, and crustaceans in the summer; they eat more plants in the fall and winter. 

They breed in Canadian and Alaskan woods near water, and winter in most of the U.S. Typical breeding sites feature lakes with abundant invertebrate prey and clear water offering good visibility and little emergent vegetation. Males perform displays of throwing their heads back and uttering shrill calls, short flights with exaggerated landings, and head pumping. The female Common Goldeneye selects a cavity in a live or dead tree for her nest. Nest sites include holes created by Pileated Woodpeckers, cavities where limbs have broken away, or “chimneys” at the top of standing trees. The female uses material already in the nest cavity, such as wood chips or an old squirrel nest, to form a nest bowl, then plucks down feathers from her breast to make an insulating lining. A clutch is 5 to 17 eggs. Females incubate but sometimes leave the brood once hatched, leaving the ducklings to join another brood. 

Goldeneye populations are stable, and perhaps increased on areas where nest boxes are provided. Like other cavity-nesting birds, Common Goldeneyes depend on forestry practices that retain dead trees on the landscape. Nest boxes have been used to reestablish populations in areas with few nesting trees. Threats to wintering sites include loss of coastal and interior wetlands, river channelization, and increased sediment loads due to agricultural and industrial practices that affect foraging areas.

Original mixed media on raw stretched canvas with maple float frame. Alternative hardwood frames available upon request.

Sources: All About Birds and Audubon Society