The first time I ever saw the white crescent moon shining from the purple-sheened head of a Barrow's Goldeneye was in April 1979—April 21st to be exact. That's according to the meticulous notes my 15-year-old self kept on the new birds I was learning back then. The notes go on to tell me that the sighting occurred on the Penobscot River in Bangor, Maine, and that I was on a Penobscot Valley Audubon fieldtrip led by retired ornithology professor Dr. Albert Barden. Dr. Barden and the four wonderful older ladies that let me ride with them on the trip have all since passed away. But the Barrow's Goldeneye still come down from the Boreal every winter to the Penobscot and a handful of other special places in Maine.
Barrow's Goldeneye have an interesting range pattern in North America (a small population also occurs in Iceland). The largest population occurs in western North America where they breed from Alaska south through Yukon, British Columbia and into the northwestern U.S. But from here you have to travel thousands of miles to the east before you find the species again. The range of the eastern population is spatially disjunct from the western population and the eastern population is much smaller—perhaps 4,000 birds compared to roughly 200,000 in the western population. This overall scarcity of eastern Barrow's Goldeneye combined with the fact that virtually the entire population winters along the eastern part of the St. Lawrence Estuary of Quebec and in New Brunswick, has made it a sought-after specialty for birders in the eastern U.S. In Maine there is even a proposal under intense debate to add Barrow's Goldeneye to the state list of endangered and threatened species. In the other eastern U.S. states, Barrow's Goldeneye are even rarer.
But there are several locations along the lower portions and mouths of certain rivers in Maine that year-after-year can be counted on to hold small flocks of the puffy-headed birds. The Penobscot River, where I saw my life Barrow's Goldeneye, is one of them. So is Belfast Harbor, Freeport Harbor and a stretch of open water near the Revolutionary War era Fort Halifax along the Kennebec River.
It was at Fort Halifax a few weeks ago that Allison and I saw a few Barrow's Goldeneye among a large flock of Common Goldeneye. The ducks were huddled together in a tight flock because two Bald Eagles were flying low over the river scanning for food. It is likely that all of these birds may have been born in the Boreal. Certainly the Barrow's Goldeneye were as the entire eastern population of the species breeds in the Boreal of Quebec.
The Boreal pulses through these birds even when they are not there. As spring comes closer I wonder if memories return to them of the remote lakes and ponds where they were born and to where the pull of migration will soon be sending them.
But while Barrow's Goldeneye and billions of other Boreal birds have been in their winter homes, back in Canada the fate of the habitat where they raise their young is being decided.
The great news is that there are a lot of people who care about the future of North America's Great Bird Nursery and right now there are lots of ways to help. Here are a few opportunities for you to help. Just click on the topic.
Urge the Manitoba government to permanently protect First Nations lands in the boreal.
From the Boston area? Join me on Friday, March 2 (7:30 PM) at the Peabody-Essex Museum for a presentation on Boreal birds! Click here for more info.
