Goldeneye (duck)

Goldeneye
Common goldeneye (Bucephala clangula)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Anseriformes
Family:	Anatidae
Subfamily:	Merginae
Genus:	Bucephala S.F. Baird, 1858
Species
Bucephala albeola Bucephala clangula Bucephala islandica
Synonyms
Charitonetta and see text

Bucephala is a genus of ducks found in the Northern Hemisphere. The genus name is derived from Ancient Greek boukephalos, "bullheaded", from bous "bull", and kephale, "head", a reference to the crest of the bufflehead making its head look large.^[1]

The bufflehead was formerly separated in its own genus Charitonetta, while the goldeneyes proper were mistakenly placed in Clangula (as Clangula americana), the genus of the long-tailed duck, which at that time was placed in Harelda.^[2]

The three living species are:

• Common goldeneye (Bucephala clangula)
• Barrow's goldeneye (Bucephala islandica)
• Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola)

Known fossil taxa are:

• Bucephala cereti (Sajóvölgyi Middle Miocene of Mátraszõlõs, Hungary - Late Pliocene of Chilhac, France)
• 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. (Early Pleistocene of Dursunlu, Turkey: Louchart et al. 1998)

References

• Louchart, Antoine; Mourer-Chauviré, Cécile; Guleç, Erksin; Howell, Francis Clark & White, Tim D. (1998). L'avifaune de Dursunlu, Turquie, Pléistocène inférieur: climat, environnement et biogéographie. C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris IIA 327(5):341-346. [French with English abridged version] doi:10.1016/S1251-8050(98)80053-0 (HTML abstract)

Media related to Bucephala at Wikimedia Commons

1. Jobling, James A (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 79. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
2. Report of the National conference on utilization of forest products. New national museum, Washington, DC, November 19 and 20, 1924. Issue 13. US Govt. print. off. 1925.

External links

• Common Goldeneye at Birdzilla