Goldeneye Call MP3s
A diving duck of cold northern lakes and coastal waters, the Common Goldeneye is a legal quarry species across much of North America and Europe and is sometimes classed alongside sea ducks. These recordings suit hunters working open water as well as birders learning its distinctive whistling wingbeat and call.
Also known as
Recordings (3)
About this species
The Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula) is a duck of the Anatidae family of around 46 cm — the drake bold black-and-white with a round white spot before a peaked, glossy-green head. It breeds on northern forest lakes and winters on ice-free lakes and coasts.
Beyond a soft display note, this duck is best known for the musical whistling of its wings in flight. It dives for molluscs, insect larvae and plant matter on the bed of lakes and reservoirs. It dives repeatedly from the surface, vanishing for long seconds at a time. Across the Mediterranean flyway it is most numerous from autumn through winter, when migrants from the north flood the wetlands of Greece and the Balkans.
Legal use
The Common Goldeneye is legally hunted as game across the United States and Canada under standard migratory bird regulations (some states group it with sea ducks under separate bag limits, others do not classify it that way at all), and across much of Northern and Central Europe and the UK under national wildlife law informed by the EU Birds Directive framework. The species is classed as Least Concern by the IUCN with a large, stable population and no broad current restrictions comparable to those on diving ducks like Pochard, though specific bag limits can be notably lower than for dabbling ducks in some US states and regions. Rules vary by country and, in North America, by state and flyway, so confirm current local seasons and limits before hunting; see our full country-by-country disclaimer for details.