Goldeneye, Bufflehead, and the Diving Ducks
Okay, so now we get to my favorites. I'll just say that up front. Dabblers are nice, mallards are nice, but the divers are the ones that make me stand out there in the cold a little longer than I meant to.
Quick review from last time, because it matters here: dabblers tip forward to feed, divers go all the way under. That's the whole difference in one sentence, but on the water it plays out in a hundred small ways, and this lesson is about learning to spot them.
What you're looking for
Goldeneyes and buffleheads are both diving ducks and they're both common on our lake in winter, so they're a good pair to learn together, mostly by contrast.
Bufflehead first, because it's the easier one once you know it. Small duck, kind of a dumpy little football shape sitting low on the water. The male has this big white patch on the back of his head that looks almost like a puffy hood, with black everywhere else that can look green or purple depending on the light, which, remember, lies to you anyway. The female is plain brown-gray with a small white cheek patch, like a smudge of paint. Buffleheads dive constantly. You'll be watching one and then it's just gone, no splash, no drama, and you count in your head and there it is again twenty feet away like nothing happened.
Common goldeneye is bigger, chunkier through the body, with a round head that looks almost too big for the neck. Males have a white circular spot on the face right in front of the eye, like a period someone typed in the wrong place, and the eye itself is this startling gold color, hence the name. Females are gray-brown with a chocolate-colored head. Goldeneyes dive too, but they ride a little higher and heavier on the water than buffleheads, and their wings make a distinct whistling sound in flight. Once you hear it you'll start noticing it before you see the bird, which is a nice trick to have.
How to tell them apart at a distance, when the light's bad and everything's a silhouette
This is the real skill, and it's the opinion I keep coming back to in this whole class: shape and behavior first, color second. Out on the ice at eight in the morning you often can't see color at all. What you can see:
- Size and bulk. Goldeneye is noticeably bigger and blockier. Bufflehead is small and round, almost toylike next to it.
- Head shape. Goldeneye's head looks puffed up and angular at the back. Bufflehead's head, especially on the male, looks like it's wearing something.
- How often they dive. Buffleheads are almost never on the surface long. If a duck is popping up and down like a cork, that's your first guess.
- How they sit. Goldeneyes ride a bit lower and steadier, buffleheads bob.
Try this at home before you're standing in the cold trying to figure it out live: pull up a few photos, cover the color with your hand or just squint at them, and practice guessing from shape alone. Sounds silly. It works. I did this at my kitchen table more than once that first winter with a library book propped against the sugar bowl.
A practical note on where to look
Divers generally prefer deeper, more open water than dabblers do, so you'll find them out in the middle of the lake more often than tucked into the reeds at the edge. Bring binoculars with a little more zoom if you have them, or just be patient, because these birds won't be right at the shoreline waving at you the way a mallard sometimes practically will.
One caution, and it's not really about the birds: ice at the edges of the lake can look solid and not be, especially this time of year with temperatures bouncing around the way they do here. Stay on the trail, don't walk out onto anything that looks frozen just because it looks frozen. I've seen people try to get a better angle on a bird and end up with wet boots at best. Not worth it. The duck will still be there from ten feet back.
The part I think about
My mother never once looked at a bird on purpose in her whole life. Not out of any objection to it, she just wasn't wired that way, and if she'd seen me standing at the edge of a frozen lake at eight in the morning trying to decide if something was a goldeneye or a bufflehead, she'd have thought I'd lost my mind a little. Honestly, she might have had a point. It is a strange way for a grown woman to spend a Tuesday.
But I think about her sometimes out there, because I think she never got the chance to notice this kind of thing was even available to notice, if that makes sense. Nobody showed her. And that's kind of the whole reason I do these walks. I'm not trying to make anyone into an expert. I just want you to know this is here, this whole busy world sitting on the water that most people drive right past without a glance.
Before next time
See if you can spot one bufflehead diving and count how many seconds it stays under before it pops back up. Doesn't have to be exact. I just think you'll be surprised.