Barrows Goldeneye, Eastern Population
Bucephala clangula
Barrows Goldeneyes are distributed by seacoasts in Canada and there are two populations, one on the west coast, and a second much smaller population in Eastern Canada that breeds in in the boreal forests of Quebec and nests in cavities of large conifer trees. This duck winters in open salt water, mainly in the Estuary and Gulf of St Lawrence, but also extending to the coast of the Atlantic provinces and Maine. The Eastern population has approximately 6800 individuals. Winter waterfowl surveys on PEI revealed a maximum count of 275 birds in 2005. (The surveys were discontinued in 2008). Some PEI locations where they can be seen in winter are Cardigan, Oyster Bed Bridge and at Trout River in Roxbury.
The main threats to the Eastern population of Barrow’s Goldeneye are logging, the stocking of fishless lakes which allows fish to compete with Barrow’s Goldeneye for insects, and oil spills. Sport hunting, subsistence hunting and sediment contamination may also pose threats to this population.