Current view: Data table and detailed info
Taxonomic source(s)
AERC TAC. 2003. AERC TAC Checklist of bird taxa occurring in Western Palearctic region, 15th Draft. Available at: http://www.aerc.eu/DOCS/Bird_taxa_of_the_WP15.xls.
Cramp, S. and Simmons, K.E.L. (eds). 1977-1994. Handbook of the birds of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The birds of the western Palearctic. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A. and Fishpool, L.D.C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 1: Non-passerines. Lynx Edicions BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.
IUCN Red List criteria met and history
Red List criteria met
Red List history
| Migratory status |
full migrant |
Forest dependency |
medium |
| Land-mass type |
|
Average mass |
- |
Population justification: The European population is estimated at 800-900 pairs, which equates to 1,600-1,800 mature individuals (BirdLife International 2015); however Europe represents <5% of the global range. Latest wintering surveys in 2017 recorded 7,700 individuals in the eastern Canadian population (with 80% of this population found on the St. Lawrence Estuary and Gulf), with a further 500 individuals wintering in the Maritime provinces and 100 individuals in Maine (Canadian Wildlife Service Waterfowl Committee 2020). The western Canadian population has recently been estimated at 260,000 individuals, with 18,300 individuals present in the Central Interior Plateau Region (observed in 2019; Canadian Wildlife Service Waterfowl Committee 2020). The recent Partners in Flight (2019) reassessment estimates the North American population size to be 180,000 mature individuals. The Alaskan population is unknown, as surveys will usually combine Barrow's and Common Goldeneyes Bucephala clangula when counting (J-P. Savard in litt. 2020). The overall population is therefore tentatively placed in the band 175,000-200,000 mature individuals, roughly equating to 260,000-300,000 individuals, though this number requires confirmation.
Trend justification: This species was shown to have undergone a large and statistically significant increase over the last 40 years in North America (171% increase over 40 years, equating to a 28.3% increase per decade; data from Breeding Bird Survey and/or Christmas Bird Count: Butcher and Niven 2007). The Partners in Flight (PiF 2019) reassessment of North American birds however showed that between 1970 and 2014, the population trend was uncertain or slowly decreasing. Similarly, the recent North American Breeding Bird Survey recorded a 56% decline between 1966 and 2015, assuming a constant rate of decline (Sauer et al. 2017). Historical records also show that the population was thought to be declining by an estimated 1.26% yearly between 2000 and 2015 (Sauer et al. 2017). However, these decline rates are non-significant, with a large uncertainty in the overall population trend. Similarly, the British Columbia Coastal Waterbird Survey showed that the population had declined across the Strait of Georgia at a rate of 4.3% a year from 1999-2011 (Crewe et al. 2012), translating to over 50% decline within a 3-generation period (19.5 years; Bird et al. 2020). However, declines across the Salish Sea are not as significant (Crewe et al. 2012, G. Sorenson in litt. 2020, Ethier et al. in prep). The western Canadian population has additionally seen stability over the past two decades, with the eastern population thought to have increased by 30% between 2014 and 2017 wintering surveys (Canadian Wildlife Service Waterfowl Committee 2020). The Icelandic population generally fluctuates as the species moves throughout suitable habitat ranges, with an increase recorded between 2008-2011 in Mývatn and Laxár, a decline from 2011 to 2012, and then higher numbers seen in 2018 (Kolbeinsson et al. 2019). The European population trend is unknown (BirdLife International 2015). Thus, based on available information, localised declines and fluctuations (which are largely statistically non-significant), as well as unreliability in survey methods are thought to be unrepresentative of the overall population. The population is therefore considered to be stable throughout most of its range (Eadie et al. 2020).
Country/territory distribution
Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBA)
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Barrow's Goldeneye Bucephala islandica. Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/barrows-goldeneye-bucephala-islandica on 22/12/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 22/12/2024.
