Common Goldeneye x Hooded Merganser

Common Goldeneye x Hooded Merganser hybrid, Ottawa River (Ontario, Canada), 26th October - copyright Gordon Johnston

(photo ID: 2997)

Goldeneye sp. x Hooded Merganser hybrids are fairly frequently reported in the wild and broadly speaking this is a typical plumage for either.  The majority of reports probably relate to Common Goldeneye x Hooded Merganser.  The head colour seems to reflect that of the Goldeneye parent species at least in many instances, but you can't really make that out here.  However the extent of white in the scapulars helps clinch this one as involving Common Goldeneye rather than Barrow's Goldeneye.

We already have a page featuting a probable female Goldeneye sp. x Hooded Merganser which, in view of the extent of yellow on its bill is possibly more likely to involve Barrow's Goldeneye.


Common Goldeneye Bucephala clangula
Barrow's Goldeneye Bucephala islandica
Hooded Merganser Lophodytes cucullatus

Bufflehead x Common Goldeneye

Bufflehead x Common Goldeneye hybrid, Esquimalt Lagoon, Victoria, Vancouver Island (British Columbia, Canada), 2nd December 2009 - copyright Jim Craig

(photo ID: 2128)

What a smart bird!  And now who says hybrids are ugly?!  This one so superbly captured by Jim was among Bufflehead and Goldeneye wintering on the lagoon.

I have labelled all the birds on this page simply as Bufflehead x Common Goldeneye without any qualifier, which could be open to challenge.  I believe at least two of them were among Bufflehead and Common Goldeneye but the possibility that the Goldeneye parent was Barrow's is perhaps difficult to exclude with certainty.  Probably we need more experience of Bufflehead x Barrow's Goldeneye hybrids to be clear about the criteria for eliminating those.  I suspect that historically part of the rationale for identifying some such hybrids as involving Common Goldeneye rather than Barrow's was the head colour, Common Goldeneye having a green head sheen while Barrow's is more purple.  But we now know that head sheen colour in ducks is not necessarily helpful, for example Tufted Duck x Ring-necked Duck hybrids tend to show green head sheen despite both parent species normally looking purple.  Perhaps Barrow's hybrids might show other indications of different parentage in scapular pattern, head/bill shape, etc., but to me at least this is not yet clear.

Bufflehead x Common Goldeneye hybrid, Kelowna (British Columbia, Canada), 5th April 2016 - copyright Ian Walker

(photo IDs: 2780-2785)

Both presumed parent species were present with the next one below.  Matt tells us that it was slightly larger than the Bufflheads which is what it was mostly associating with.

Bufflehead x Common Goldeneye hybrid, El Campo, Tiburon (California, USA), 7th January 2014 - copyright Matt Brady

(photo IDs: 2121-2112)

Bufflehead Bucephala albeola
Common Goldeneye Bucephala clangula

Goldeneye sp. x Hooded Merganser

possible Goldeneye sp. x Hooded Merganser hybrid, location unspecified but presumed to be shot in North America, date unspecified but presumed to be on or shortly before 4th February 2015 - copyright Billy Hull

(photo ID: 1824)

This is the second of the shot ducks I've been sent photos of in the last few days.  The correspondent (Bunn Boddie) wondered about Wood Duck x Goldeneye, but while I can certainly see Goldeneye in it I suspect the thinness of the bill may point to Hooded Merganser as the second parent.  This is a more likely hybrid - one that's known to occur regularly in the wild - and the wing pattern is more as I would expect on such a hybrid.

The yellow on the bill is more extensive than on Hooded Merganser or on typical Common Goldeneye, and that makes me wonder if the Goldeneye parent might have been Barrow's Goldeneye.  However, as some Common Goldeneyes can show more extensive yellow-orange colour on the bill than normal individuals I suspect they may carry the necessary genes to throw up such a feature in a hybrid.

To my eyes the photos seem to show a hint of green plumage on the head, especially at the rear of the crown.  I'm not sure if this is real, but if so that would suggest it is not a female Goldeneye x Hooded Merganser hybrid, but it may be ok for a first-winter male (or alternatively it could be an intersex female).

possible Goldeneye sp. x Hooded Merganser hybrid (same bird as in photo ID 1824 above), location unspecified but presumed to be shot in North America, date unspecified but presumed to be on or shortly before 4th February 2015 - copyright Billy Hull

(photo IDs: 1822-1823)

Common Goldeney Bucephala clangula
Barrow's Goldeneye Bucephala islandica
Hooded Merganser Lophodytes cucullatus

Common Goldeneye x Barrow's Goldeneye

Common Goldeneye x Barrow's Goldeneye hybrid, Mukilteo, Snohomish County (Washington, USA), 1st March 2007 - copyright Steve Mlodinow

(photo ID: 1490)

Steve has found four of these hybrids and notes:

"Each time, it was the combination of no shoulder spur (the little black spur extending down just behind chest in Barrow's) and an intermediate scapular/wing-covert pattern that has caught my eye.  Unlike the facial spot, the differences noted above can be seen from a fairly wide variety of angles and a fair distance."

Common Goldeneye x Barrow's Goldeneye hybrid (same bird as in photo ID 1490 above, with Barrow's Goldeneye, Mukilteo, Snohomish County (Washington, USA), 1st March 2007 - copyright Steve Mlodinow

(photo ID: 1491)

Common Goldeneye x Barrow's Goldeneye hybrid, John Day Dam, Columbia River (Washington, USA), 9th January 2011 - copyright Steve Mlodinow

(photo ID: 1571)

Common Goldeneye Bucephala clangula
Barrow's Goldeneye Bucephala islandica

Common Goldeneye x Smew

Common Goldeneye x Smew hybrid, Rauma (SW Finland), late April or early May 2017 - copyright Henry Lehto
(photo ID: 3221)

Here is a very smart hybrid showing clearly intermediate features of the two parent species, nicely captured (as always) by Henry.

Common Goldeneye x Smew hybrid (same bird as in photo ID 3221 above), Rauma (SW Finland), late April or early May 2017 - copyright Henry Lehto
(photo IDs: 3222-3225)

This one is a museum specimen and as is often the case with such specimens the bill and legs are painted, so not their real colouration.

 

mounted Common Goldeneye x Smew hybrid, shot on the river Oker near Braunschweig (Lower Saxony, Germany) in 1825 - copyright Joern Lehmhus 

(photo IDs: 0595-0596)

Common Goldeneye Bucephala clangula
Smew Mergellus albellus