Common Goldeneye
Bucephala clangula
The Common Goldeneye nests in tree cavities throughout most of Canada and southeast Alaska. These birds also live in Asia and northern Europe. Like the Wood Duck of North America, the baby duck’s first step is from a great height, often up to 40 feet to the ground below.
The facial markings of male birds are similar to the male Barrow’s Goldeneye, but the Barrow’s white patch is pointy at the top, like a teardrop or an inverted comma, where the Common Goldeneye’s patch is more rounded.
There is some disagreement among scientists about the taxonomy of the Common Goldeneye. Some believe they should fall into the genus Glaucionetta, while others dispute the validity of subspecies. Most researchers agree on two subspecies:
- B. c. clangula breeds in Scandinavia and central Europe, and east through Russia and Mongolia to northern China and Kamchatka. They spend winters in Britain, Europe and central Asia to central and southern China, Korea, Japan and Kamchatka.
- B. c. americana breeds from Alaska east to Newfoundland and spends winters from the Aleutian Islands and Newfoundland, south throughout North America, and south to parts of northern Mexico. Some authorities do not recognise the validity of this subspecies.
I’ve met Common Goldeneyes in southern California, southern Nevada, Wyoming, Idaho and Oregon. During a Christmas Bird Count event in 2018, I discovered an overwintering female on a pond less than a quarter-mile from my southern California home. My most recent meetings have been in eastern Washington and in the Canadian Yukon.
20 Photos
Common Goldeneye(Bucephala clangula) |
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Description: Female on the Yellowstone River at the "Fishing Bridge" near Yellowstone Lake in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. |
Date Taken: 2015:05:18 10:44 |
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Location:
Fishing Bridge |
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Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/2500 |
File Name: D3X3343-CommonGoldenEye |
| © 2015 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Common Goldeneye(Bucephala clangula) |
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Description: Female on the Yellowstone River at the "Fishing Bridge" near Yellowstone Lake in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. |
Date Taken: 2015:05:18 10:44 |
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Location:
Fishing Bridge |
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Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/2500 |
File Name: D3X3353-CommonGoldenEye |
| © 2015 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Common Goldeneye(Bucephala clangula) |
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Description: Wind-chopped water at Swan Falls wasn't a problem for these ducks. Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area south of Meridian Idaho. |
Date Taken: 2015:05:29 12:06 |
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Location:
Birds of Prey NCA |
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Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 400 mm, f/7.1, 1/1600 |
File Name: D3X6083-CommonGoldenEye |
| © 2015 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Common Goldeneye(Bucephala clangula) |
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Description: At the Dairy Mart "Stick Pond" in the Tijuana River Valley. San Ysidro, California. San Diego County. |
Date Taken: 2015:02:01 10:12 |
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Location:
Dairy Mart Ponds |
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Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/800 |
File Name: D3X6099-CommonGoldenEye |
| © 2015 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Common Goldeneye(Bucephala clangula) |
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Description: Wind-chopped water at Swan Falls wasn't a problem for these ducks. Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area south of Meridian Idaho. |
Date Taken: 2015:05:29 12:15 |
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Location:
Birds of Prey NCA |
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Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/7.1, 1/2500 |
File Name: D3X6166-CommonGoldenEye |
| © 2015 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Common Goldeneye(Bucephala clangula) |
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Description: Wind-chopped water at Swan Falls wasn't a problem for these ducks. Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area south of Meridian Idaho. |
Date Taken: 2015:05:29 12:22 |
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Location:
Birds of Prey NCA |
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Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/7.1, 1/2500 |
File Name: D3X6180-CommonGoldenEye |
| © 2015 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Common Goldeneye(Bucephala clangula) |
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Description: Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area south of Meridian Idaho. |
Date Taken: 2015:06:01 8:47 |
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Location:
Birds of Prey NCA |
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Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/7.1, 1/500 |
File Name: D3X6631-CommonGoldenEye |
| © 2015 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Common Goldeneye(Bucephala clangula) |
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Description: Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area south of Meridian Idaho. |
Date Taken: 2015:06:01 8:51 |
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Location:
Birds of Prey NCA |
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Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/7.1, 1/400 |
File Name: D3X6635-CommonGoldenEye |
| © 2015 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Common Goldeneye(Bucephala clangula) |
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Description: Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area south of Meridian Idaho. |
Date Taken: 2015:06:01 8:53 |
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Location:
Birds of Prey NCA |
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Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/7.1, 1/200 |
File Name: D3X6642-CommonGoldenEye |
| © 2015 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Common Goldeneye(Bucephala clangula) |
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Description: Males on the Klamath River. Klamath Falls, Oregon 2002-12-30. |
Date Taken: 2002:12:30 13:24 |
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Location:
Klamath Falls |
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Camera Information: Nikon SUPER COOLSCAN 4000 ED, |
File Name: A2L30a14-CommonGoldeneye |
| © 2002 - Jack Daynes - shadeTree Imaging |
Common Goldeneye(Bucephala clangula) |
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Description: Klamath Falls, Southern Oregon. |
Date Taken: 2003:12:15 9:40 |
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Location:
Klamath Falls |
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Camera Information: NIKON D1X, 800 mm, f/5.6, 1/200 |
File Name: JCD_4356CommonGoldenEye |
| © 2003 Jack Daynes, (shadetree-Imaging.com) |
Common Goldeneye(Bucephala clangula) |
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Description: Colorado River below Davis Dam in Bullhead City, Arizona. |
Date Taken: 2016:03:14 12:11 |
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Location:
Davis Camp |
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Camera Information: NIKON D7200, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/1250 |
File Name: D723945-CommonGoldenEye |
| © 2016 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Common Goldeneye(Bucephala clangula) |
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Description: Colorado River below Davis Dam in Bullhead City, Arizona. |
Date Taken: 2016:03:13 12:17 |
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Location:
Davis Camp |
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Camera Information: NIKON D7200, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/1250 |
File Name: D723587-CommonGoldeneye |
| © 2016 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Common Goldeneye(Bucephala clangula) |
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Description: Beeler Creek Ponds in Poway California. San Diego County USA. |
Date Taken: 2018:12:24 13:33 |
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Location:
Beeler Creek Ponds |
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Camera Information: NIKON D5, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/1000 |
File Name: CommonGoldeneye_D5X8968-BeelerPonds_Poway |
| © 2018 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Common Goldeneye(Bucephala clangula) |
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Description: This female Common Goldeneye spent most of her time foraging near the Greater Scaups in her company at the Hood Park Boat Launch near the mouth of the Snake River in Burbank Washington. |
Date Taken: 2022:04:21 12:42 |
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Location:
Hood Park Boat Launch |
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Camera Information: NIKON D850, 800 mm, f/7.1, 1/800 |
File Name: CommonGoldeneye_8503019-BurbankWashington |
| © 2022 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Common Goldeneye(Bucephala clangula) |
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Description: At ‘Second Wye Lake’ I found a male Common Goldeneye in the company of several hens. Of all the places I visited on my 2005 expedition to Alaska, Watson Lake was one of my favorite stops. It was where I first met Red-Necked Grebes and Mew Gulls. |
Date Taken: 2022:06:07 9:30 |
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Location:
Second Wye Lake |
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Camera Information: NIKON D850, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/8000 |
File Name: CommonGoldeneye_8508671-WatsonLake.YK_ |
| © 2022 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Common Goldeneye(Bucephala clangula) |
|
Description: At ‘Second Wye Lake’ I found a male Common Goldeneye in the company of several hens. Of all the places I visited on my 2005 expedition to Alaska, Watson Lake was one of my favorite stops. It was where I first met Red-Necked Grebes and Mew Gulls. |
Date Taken: 2022:06:07 9:38 |
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Location:
Second Wye Lake |
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Camera Information: NIKON D850, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/8000 |
File Name: CommonGoldeneye_8508722-WatsonLake.YK_ |
| © 2022 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Common Goldeneye(Bucephala clangula) |
|
Description: At ‘Second Wye Lake’ I found a male Common Goldeneye in the company of several hens. Of all the places I visited on my 2005 expedition to Alaska, Watson Lake was one of my favorite stops. It was where I first met Red-Necked Grebes and Mew Gulls. |
Date Taken: 2022:06:07 9:29 |
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Location:
Second Wye Lake |
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Camera Information: NIKON D850, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/8000 |
File Name: CommonGoldeneye_8508658-WatsonLake.YK_ |
| © 2022 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Common Goldeneye(Bucephala clangula) |
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Description: Small to medium-sized diving ducks ranged over all quadrants of the deeper waters in the harbor. Waterfowl and shorebirds were the objects of my affection during the half-day I spent exploring Bodega Bay. |
Date Taken: 2022:03:06 12:05 |
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Location:
Bodega Bay |
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Camera Information: NIKON D850, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/800 |
File Name: CommonGoldeneye_8503740-BodegaBay |
| © 2022 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Common Goldeneye(Bucephala clangula) |
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Description: I hadn’t seen many Common Goldeneyes while traveling in Canada. Yet here at Lake Kimiwan there were two seemingly unattached hens. |
Date Taken: 2022:07:05 8:43 |
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Location:
Kimiwan Lake |
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Camera Information: NIKON D850, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/5000 |
File Name: CommonGoldenEye_8508975-KimiwanLake.AB_ |
| © 2022 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
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