Barrow's Goldeneye

Description:

Male duck in the middle with a white tear-drop on the side of its face.

Notes:

Barrow's Goldeneye is a very uncommon duck in the northeast US, and this one didn't cooperate very well, staying waaay out in the ocean from the shore. . For a species with such widely separated populations, it is perhaps surprising that the Barrow's Goldeneye shows little variation from place to place. Those breeding in North America are essentially identical on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. Female Barrow's Goldeneyes breeding in Iceland do not get as extensively yellow bills as the North American birds, but have only a yellow or orangish band on the outer third of the otherwise dusky bill. (Cornell)