Hi everyone,



In my earlier post regarding the Cle Elum railroad ponds, I had a link to an image of a Goldeneye with 5 young that I incorrectly ID'd as a Common.? Thanks to Bob Sundstrom for the quick correction and Dennis Paulson for additional info.?



My primary mistake in ID was the assumption (e.g. see Sibley's Western North America guide, pp 90-91) that Common has a mostly black bill (occasionally with a small amount of yellow) and that Barrow's always has at least some (and usually most) yellow in the bill.? The bird in my image has a completely black bill which said Common to me.? I also thought the bill wasn't as 'stubby' in profile as the Barrow's.? As it turns out, during breeding season Barrow's females commonly have an all or mostly all black bill.? Sibley's comment for Barrow's on page 91 that says "small bill, usually mostly yellow" is misleading during breeding season unless you?use a?generous interpretation of "usually".??Sibley does, however, state that "bill color [is] a good, but not infallible indicator."?



Lesson learned...!



Dennis Paulson further indicated that a breeding Common Goldeneye in this area would be essentially unheard of, so I should have also consulted Birds of Washington for breeding status for the two Goldeneye species before my post.? I also asked Dennis is there was any difference in the plumage of the young birds and he was not aware that there was any significant difference.



In addition to being a great way to get info on bird sightings very quickly, Tweeters is an invaluable learning tool...!



John Tubbs

Snoqualmie, WA

johntubbs at comcast.net

www.tubbsphoto.com