Natural Pest Control for Gardens with Ducks! ... And not only are the birds good to eat… Knowing what to feed ducks can help provide the birds with a healthy diet so future generations can enjoy this activity safely both for themselves and for the birds they want to feed. Bucephala ossivalis (Late Miocene/Early Pliocene of Bone Valley, United States), which was very similar to the common goldeneye and may even have been a paleosubspecies or direct ancestor; Bucephala fossilis (Late Pliocene of California, United States) Bucephala angustipes (Early Pleistocene of central Europe) Bucephala sp. Does the Goldeneye Make a Good Pet. I have grown used to the funny looks I get from hunters who typically just cut out the breast meat on their birds. And that’s a shame, because duck eggs are a phenomenal treat, a ramped-up version of a chicken egg that has a much bigger and richer yolk, a higher concentration of nutrients and more protein than the standard hen’s egg. The genus name is derived from the Ancient Greek boukephalos ("bullheaded", from bous, "bull " and kephale, "head"), a reference to the bulbous head shape of the bufflehead. These distinctively shaped, large-headed ducks dive for their food, eating mostly aquatic invertebrates and fish. The male Common Goldeneye adds a bright note to winter days with its radiant amber eye, glistening green-black head, and crisp black-and-white body and wings. The technical term for this phenomenon is bioaccumulation. Some zoos keep various Goldeneye species. It also gave me the opportunity to become a duck snob, of sorts. They are so good, it'd be worth going to India just to buy them, which luckily you don't. ... Drake is named after the male duck, and his siblings Teal and Woodie after two different species. when me and my friend went duck hunting for the first time he shot a coot and cleaned it... no joke about a quart of black red blood came out of that thing. There were a couple of years there in the late 90's when I pretty much survived on duck. yes goldeneye are eatable. Over the years, I have learned to eat pretty much everything but the quack on a duck or a goose. we always eat what we kill except for that coot. The female has a chocolate brown head with the same bright eye that gives this species its name. They might be cute, but they are wild ducks and do not enjoy human contact. The common goldeneye (Bucephala clangula) is a medium-sized sea duck of the genus Bucephala, the goldeneyes. These distinctively shaped, large-headed ducks dive for their food, eating mostly aquatic invertebrates and fish. The female has a chocolate brown head with the same bright eye that gives this species its name. Like many ducks, they nest in tree cavities. i can't imagine eating one. Goldeneye are small seaducks that occur naturally in the northern hemisphere.. Their plumages are patterned black and white or brown and white, with some glossy green or purple markings. had Many birders got their first personal interactions with wild birds by feeding ducks at local parks or urban ponds. I shot these ducks. Its closest relative is the similar Barrow's goldeneye. It may yet be correct to recognise two genera, as the bufflehead and the two goldeneyes are well diverged. This adds an extra step in the food chain, so any pollutants in the water are amplified by one degree of concentration compared to a duck that easts mosltly plant matter. These distinctively shaped, large-headed ducks dive for their food, eating mostly aquatic invertebrates and fish. I was shooting 40-50 ducks a year and that gave me a lot of duck to work with. Hell, I even get funny looks from people who pluck their birds. Goldeneye Care. so we don't shoot coots. They eat a larger percentage of zooplankton than mallards and such, along with the plant matter. My First Helping of Canada Goose. I can’t help it. EATING EVERYTHING BUT THE QUACK. The male Common Goldeneye adds a bright note to winter days with its radiant amber eye, glistening green-black head, and crisp black-and-white body and wings.