The Common Goldeneye is a medium-sized sea duck that breeds across a large range of boreal forest. They nest in parts of Canada and Scandinavia, and across parts of northern Europe, Russia, and China. These migratory ducks spend the winter across a broad range that extends further south than the breeding area.
Common Goldeneyes are closely related to Barrow's Goldeneyes. Males have a shiny green heads with a circular white cheek patch below the eye; females have brown heads.
The global population trend for the Common Goldeneye is stable and the conservation status for the species is considered to be Least Concern as of July 2013.
The Common Goldeneye is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List and was last assessed in 2012 by BirdLife International. This species has an extremely large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion (Extent of Occurrence <20,000 km2 combined with a declining or fluctuating range size, habitat extent/quality, or population size and a small number of locations or severe fragmentation). The population trend appears to be stable, and hence the species does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population trend criterion (>30% decline over ten years or three generations). The population size is extremely large, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population size criterion (<10,000 mature individuals with a continuing decline estimated to be >10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern.
Our Bonanza hits the water today with our 477th species, the Common Goldeneye. Common Goldeneyes are sea ducks with a broad global range. They breed across northern forests in Canada, Scandinavia, Russia, and China. They winter across much of North America and... Read more »
