Common goldeneye

Voice

Largely silent, but the wings produce a loud, high, singing whistle in flight that identifies the species without a view. In display the male gives a sharp, nasal zee-zeek while throwing its head right back onto its mantle. The female purrs low, grrr. Display starts in January.

Identification

Stocky duck with a large triangular head, short neck and short dark bill. The male is white with a black back, a green-glossed black head and a round white loral spot. The female has a chocolate-brown head, grey body and a narrow white neck collar, with a yellow to wholly dark bill tip. Both sexes have a yellow iris and a large white wing panel.

Confusion species

Long-tailed Duck and Smew are whiter and differently shaped, Smew being smaller with a serrated bill. The likeliest confusion is female Goldeneye with female Red-breasted Merganser, but that species is longer, redder-headed and has a thin red hook-tipped bill. Head shape and the short, high-crowned silhouette settle Goldeneye.

Habitat

Winters on large deep waters: lakes, reservoirs, gravel pits, rivers, harbours and sheltered estuaries. Breeds in tree holes, usually old Black Woodpecker cavities, in boreal forest beside lakes and rivers, and readily uses nest boxes. Dives for crustaceans, insect larvae and bivalves, usually in small scattered parties.

Range and movements

Breeds across the boreal forest belt from Fennoscandia east through Russia, with a small central European population. Winters in the Netherlands on the IJsselmeer area, the large rivers and the Delta. In Spain it is a scarce winter visitor, mainly on northern reservoirs and along the Cantabrian coast.

• Resident
• Breeding (summer)
• Winter
• Passage
• Migration direction
• dark = core range, pale = thinly spread

Where and when to look

Take a dyke along the IJsselmeer or a large reservoir in January or February and scope carefully, since Goldeneye usually sit well out. Wait for display, when males snap the head back onto the mantle and kick up a spray of water. Early light from behind you works best.

Conservation status

Not globally threatened and helped in parts of Fennoscandia by nest-box schemes. Loss of old cavity trees in production forest limits breeding sites, and acidification of boreal lakes reduces prey. Dutch winter numbers are falling as milder winters allow birds to remain further north and east.