Barrow's goldeneye

Barrow's goldeneye was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it with the ducks, geese and swans in the genus Anas and coined the binomial name Anas islandica.{{ cite book | last=Gmelin | first=Johann Friedrich | author-link=Johann Friedrich Gmelin| year=1789 | title=Systema naturae per regna tria naturae : secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis | edition=13th | volume=1, Part 2 | language=Latin | location=Lipsiae [Leipzig] | publisher=Georg. Emanuel. Beer | page=541 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/2656034 }} Gmelin based his description on the "Hravn Oend" that had been briefly described in 1776 by Danish naturalist Otto Friedrich Müller.{{ cite book | last=Müller | first=Otto Frederik | author-link=Otto Friedrich Müller | date=1776 | title=Zoologiae Danicae prodromus : seu Animalium Daniae et Norvegiae indigenarum ; characteres, nomina, et synonyma imprimis popularium | language=Latin | location=Havniae [Copenhagen] | publisher=typis Hallageriis | page=16, no. 131 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/13227095 }}{{ cite book | editor1-last=Mayr | editor1-first=Ernst | editor1-link=Ernst Mayr | editor2-last=Cottrell | editor2-first=G. William | year=1979 | title=Check-List of Birds of the World | volume=1 | edition=2nd | publisher=Museum of Comparative Zoology | place=Cambridge, Massachusetts | page=496 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/16109136 }} Barrow's goldeneye is now placed with the common goldeneye and the bufflehead in the genus Bucephala that was introduced in 1858 by American naturalist Spencer Baird.{{ cite book | last=Baird | first=Spencer F. | author-link=Spencer Fullerton Baird | year=1858 | title=Reports of explorations and surveys to ascertain the most practical and economical route for a railroad from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean made under the direction of the secretary of war in 1853-1856 | volume=9 Birds | location=Washington | publisher=Beverly Tucker, printer | pages=[https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/11689167 xxiii], [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/11689194 L], [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/11689988 788], [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/11689995 795] }}{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela Rasmussen | date=January 2022 | title=Screamers, ducks, geese & swans | work=IOC World Bird List Version 12.1 | url=http://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/waterfowl/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=4 July 2022 }} The genus name is derived from Ancient Greek boukephalos, meaning "bullheaded", from bous "bull", and kephale, "head. The specific epithet islandica is for Iceland.{{cite book | last=Jobling | first=James A. | year=2010| title=The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | publisher=Christopher Helm | location=London | isbn=978-1-4081-2501-4 | pages=[https://archive.org/stream/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling#page/n79/mode/1up 79], [https://archive.org/stream/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling#page/n208/mode/1up 208]}} The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.

Adults are similar in appearance to the common goldeneye. On average, adult males are {{convert|19.2|in|cm|abbr=on}} long and weigh {{convert|2.13|lb|g|abbr=on}}; females are typically {{convert|17|in|cm|abbr=on}} long and weigh {{convert|1.31|lb|g|abbr=on}}.{{cite web |title=Barrows Goldeneye |url=http://www.ducks.org/hunting/waterfowl-id/barrows-goldeneye |website=Ducks Unlimited |access-date=27 April 2020}} The Barrow's goldeneye has a wingspan of 27.6–28.7 in (70–73 cm).{{Cite web|title=Barrow's Goldeneye Identification, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology|url=https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Barrows_Goldeneye/id|access-date=2020-09-26|website=www.allaboutbirds.org|language=en}} Adult males have a dark head with a purplish gloss and a white crescent at the front of the face. Adult females have a mostly yellow bill. The male Barrow's goldeneye differs from the male common goldeneye in the fact that the common goldeneye has a round white patches on the face, less black on the back of the bird, a greenish gloss, and a larger bill. For the females, the common goldeneye has a less rounded head, and a bill in which only the tip is yellow.The Cornell Lab of Ornithology. (n.d.) [http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Barrows_Goldeneye/id Barrow's goldeneye]. All About Birds.

The Barrow's goldeneye is a relatively quiet bird that generally only makes vocalizations during the breeding season and courtship. These can include low volume squeaks, grunts and croaks. During flights, the fast movement of the bird's wings creates a low whistling sound.Mayntz, M. (n.d.). [http://birding.about.com/od/Waterfowl/fl/Barrows-Goldeneye.htm Barrow's goldeneye] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140105073605/http://birding.about.com/od/Waterfowl/fl/Barrows-Goldeneye.htm |date=2014-01-05 }}. About.com Birding/Wild Birds.

Their breeding habitat consists of wooded lakes and ponds primarily in northwestern North America, but also in scattered locations in eastern Canada and Iceland. Females return to the same breeding sites year after year and also tend to use the same nesting sites. The males stay with their mate through the winter and defend their territory during the breeding season, then leave for the molting site. Mating pairs often stay intact even though the male and female are apart for long periods of time over the summer during molting times. The pair then reunites at wintering areas.Savard, J-P.L. (1985). "Evidence of long-term pair bonds in Barrow's goldeneye (Bucephala islandica)". The Auk 102(2): 389–391.

In Iceland the bird is known as húsönd (house-duck); it is a common species of the Lake Mývatn in the north of the country.

There have been three records of vagrants from Scotland,{{cite web | url = https://www.the-soc.org.uk/about-us/online-scottish-bird-report | title = Scottish Birds Online | access-date = 8 October 2021 | publisher = Scottish Ornithologists' Club}} the only records of this species accepted as wild in Europe outside of Iceland.{{cite book | author1 = Eduardo de Juana | author2 = Ernesto Garcia | year = 2015 | title = The Birds of the Iberian Peninsula | publisher = Bloomsbury Publishing | isbn = 978-1472905918 | page = 98}}

They are migratory and most winter in protected coastal waters or open inland waters. Barrow's goldeneye, along with many other species of sea ducks, rely on urbanized, coastal estuaries as important places on their migration patterns. These estuaries provide excellent wintering and stopping places during the ducks' migration.{{cite journal |last1=De La Cruz |first1=Susan E.W. |last2=Eadie |first2=John M. |last3=Keith Miles |first3=A. |last4=Yee |first4=Julie |last5=Spragens |first5=Kyle A. |last6=Palm |first6=Eric C. |last7=Takekawa |first7=John Y. |title=Resource selection and space use by sea ducks during the non-breeding season: Implications for habitat conservation planning in urbanized estuaries |journal=Biological Conservation |date=January 2014 |volume=169 |pages=68–78 |doi=10.1016/j.biocon.2013.10.021|bibcode=2014BCons.169...68D }} It is an extremely rare vagrant to western Europe and to southern North America.{{cite journal|author=Littlejohn, Chase |year=1916|title= Some unusual records for San Mateo County, California. Abstract in: Minutes of Cooper Club Meetings|journal=Condor|volume=18|issue=1|pages= 38–40|url=http://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/condor/v018n01/p0038-p0040.pdf|doi=10.2307/1362896|jstor=1362896}}

These diving birds forage underwater. They eat aquatic insects, crustaceans and pond vegetation. The main staples of the bird's diet are Gammarus oceanicus and Calliopius laeviusculus, which are both marine crustaceans. A large part of their diet consists of mussels and gastropods.Bourget, D. (2007). "Distribution, diet and dive behavior of Barrow's and common goldeneyes during spring and autumn in the St. Lawrence estuary". Waterbirds: The International Journal of Waterbird Biology 30(2): 230–240.

The Barrow's goldeneye is considered an arboreal bird species because much of its nesting is done in cavities found in mature trees. The birds will also nest in burrows or protected sites on the ground.Boreal Songbird Initiative (2007). [http://www.borealbirds.org/birdguide/bd0409_species.shtml "Selected birds of the boreal forests of North America Barrow's goldeneye"]. Barrow's goldeneyes tend not to share habitat with the much more numerous common goldeneye. Barrow's goldeneye tend to be territorial towards other birds venturing into their domain. This is especially true among the drakes. Confrontations may occur in the form of fighting. Drakes often do a form of territorial display along the boundaries of their territory. This is both true on land and in the water. These territorial displays average about 6 minutes in length and often trigger other males to perform their own show.Savard, J-P. L. (1984). "Territorial behaviour of common goldeneye, Barrow's goldeneye and bufflehead in areas of sympatry". Ornis Scandinavia 15(4): 211–216.

File:Bucephala islandica MWNH 1021.JPG]]

Very little is known about the breeding sites and patterns of the Barrow's goldeneye. After the breeding season, the birds migrate to specific molting sites to undergo molting, the loss and regeneration of feathers which causes them to be flightless for anywhere from 20–40 days. These molting sites are often wetlands that are more drought resistant and plentiful in food, along with being less influenced by humans and predators.Hogan, D. (2011). "Discovery of important post breeding sites for Barrow's goldeneye in the boreal transition zone of Alberta". u61–268

The Barrow's goldeneye was greatly affected by the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989. The spill greatly impacted the bird's wintering areas, and numbers of the birds in these areas decreased after the spill. The birds' exposure to the oil spill mainly occurred in the shallow water mussel beds along the coast.Peterson, C.H. (2003). "Long-term ecosystem response to Exxon Valdez oil spill". Science 302(5653): 2082-2086.

Barrow's Goldeneyes.jpg|male and female goldeneye, Rideau River, Ottawa

Barrow's Goldeneye RWD3.jpg|male

Barrow's Goldeneye RWD2.jpg|male

Barrow's Goldeneye RWD1.jpg|female

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category|Bucephala islandica|Barrow's Goldeneye}}

{{Wikispecies|Bucephala islandica}}

• {{InternetBirdCollection|barrows-goldeneye-bucephala-islandica|Barrow's Goldeneye}}
• {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20010111034100/http://www.bird-stamps.org/cspecies/2714100.htm Stamps]}} (for Canada, Iceland) with Range Map at bird-stamps.org
• {{VIREO|barrow's+goldeneye|Barrow's Goldeneye}}
• [http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Barrows_Goldeneye.html Barrow's Goldeneye Species Account] – Cornell Lab of Ornithology

{{Taxonbar|from=Q369767}}

Barrow's goldeneye

Category:Birds of Iceland

Category:Native birds of Alaska

Category:Native birds of Western Canada

Category:Native birds of the Northwestern United States

Barrow's goldeneye

Barrow's goldeneye