Common Goldeneye

How to recognise it

• Large, slightly peaked head on a short neck, small triangular bill and yellow eyes
• Breeding male: black and white, glossy green-black head, large white spot between bill and eye
• Female: grey body, brown head, variable white neck ring, yellow and black bill tip
• In flight both sexes show a white patch on the inner wing

Call and song

In flight the wings make a whistling sound, hyhyhyhy, audible at long range and loudest in the male. During display the male gives a croaking sound, like running a finger along a comb. The female gives a grar call at the breeding site.

Where and when

The Common Goldeneye is a partial migrant that breeds in Sweden. The Swedish population was estimated at 65 000 pairs in 2018. It is reported from all 21 counties and is reported most from November to March. In winter it stays on ice-free lakes, rivers and along the coast, in pairs or larger flocks. It is not red-listed, but an ongoing decline has been noted.

Food and behaviour

It dives for food, sometimes down to eight metres. It eats small fish, snails, crustaceans, plant parts, insects and larvae. In display in early spring the male bobs down and throws his head back over his back. The female lays ten to twelve eggs in a tree hole, old woodpecker hole or nest box. She calls the young out of the nest and they jump out one by one.