# Common goldeneye (*Bucephala clangula*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/common-goldeneye  
Data as of: 2026-11-11

The common goldeneye (Bucephala clangula) is a bird in the waterfowl subgroup, belonging to the family Anatidae in the order Anseriformes. It falls in the small size class, with a representative adult body mass of 918.6 g, reported values from 740.4 g to 1 kg, and a wingspan of 70 cm. This migratory bird lives an aquatic lifestyle in wetland habitat and is an aquatic predator at the carnivore trophic level. It lays one clutch of 9.5 eggs per year with an incubation period of 29.5 days, reaches sexual maturity at 2 years, and is listed as Least Concern by the IUCN.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 740.4 g – 1 kg |
| Length | Not recorded |
| Wingspan | 70 cm |
| Lifespan | 16.9 years |
| Diet | Aquatic predator |
| Longest recorded lifespan | 18.4 years |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | wetland |
| Egg incubation | 29.5 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 9.5 |
| Age at maturity | 2 years |
| Litters or clutches a year | 1 |
| Lifestyle | Aquatic |
| Migration | Migratory |
| Conservation status | Least Concern (IUCN) |
| Countries on record | Not recorded |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Aves
- order: Anseriformes
- family: Anatidae
- genus: Bucephala
- species: *Bucephala clangula* (Linnaeus, 1758)

Synonyms: *Anas bucephala*, *Anas glaucion*, *Anas hyemalis*, *Clangula bimaculata*, *Clangula chrysophthalmos*, *Clangula chrysopthalmos*, *Clangula clangula*, *Clangula glaucion*, *Clangula glaucion*, *Clangula leucomelas*, *Clangula peregrina*, *Clangula vulgaris*, *Fuligula clangula*, *Glaucion clangula*, *Glaucionetta clangula*, *Nyroca clangula*

## Common questions

### What kind of animal is the common goldeneye?

The common goldeneye is a bird in the waterfowl subgroup, part of the family Anatidae in the order Anseriformes.

### How heavy is the common goldeneye?

Its representative adult body mass is 918.6 g, with reported values from 740.4 g to 1 kg. Its wingspan is 70 cm.

### What does the common goldeneye eat?

The common goldeneye is an aquatic predator and is classed as a carnivore.

### What habitat does the common goldeneye live in?

It lives in wetland habitat with an aquatic lifestyle, and it is migratory.

### Is the common goldeneye endangered?

No. The common goldeneye is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.

### How long does the common goldeneye live?

Its lifespan is given as 16.92 years, with values up to 18.42 years reported by our sources.

### How many eggs does the common goldeneye lay?

It lays 9.5 eggs per clutch and one clutch per year, with an incubation period of 29.5 days.

### Who named the common goldeneye?

It was named Bucephala clangula by Linnaeus in 1758, written as (Linnaeus, 1758).

## Sources

- [An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1), CC0 1.0, E096-269. Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1
- [AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7), CC BY 4.0, v7. Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7
- [Catalogue of Life eXtended Release](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), CC BY 4.0, 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf
- [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org), per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed), 2026-11-11. Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence).
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org), CC0 1.0, 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
- [Wikipedia (English)](https://en.wikipedia.org), CC BY-SA 4.0, 2026-11-11. Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).

Cite as: Common goldeneye (Bucephala clangula). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/common-goldeneye