Common goldeneye (female)

Description:

Adult female with mostly grey body and a brown head. Feet and legs are orange-yellow. The bill is dark with a yellow tip.

Habitat:

Spotted at the Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge.

Notes:

The female does all the incubating and is abandoned by the male about 1 to 2 weeks into incubation. The young remain in the nest for about 24–36 hours. Brood parasitism is quite common with other common goldeneyes, and occurs less frequently with other duck species. The broods commonly start to mix with other females' broods as they become more independent or are abandoned by their mothers.Goldeneye young have been known to be competitively killed by other goldeneye mothers, common loons and red-necked grebes. The young are capable of flight at 55–65 days of age.