winter waterfowl survey (Goldsberry et al. 1980). 



Florida Sprunt (1954) reported that the Common Goldeneye was found in 

 winter (November-March) throughout the state, but was never common. More re- 

 cently, Kale (1979 ms a) listed the species as rare along the Atlantic coast 

 of Florida but fairly common (though not abundant) on the Gulf coast north of 

 St. Marks NWR (Kale 1979 ms b). On the basis of earlier waterfowl surveys, 

 Bellrose (1976) estimated that the Florida wintering population held about 100 

 birds. The January 1975 winter survey reported 200 (Goldsberry et al. 1980). 



Alabama Imhof (1976b) considered this species uncommon in most of inte- 

 rior Alabama, although it may be locally common in the Tennessee Valley and in 

 salt water bays of the Gulf coast. The maximum mid-winter counts reported, at 

 Dauphin Island, were between 400 and 500. Inland, as many as 200 have been 

 seen near Decatur (Hamilton 1978). Three hundred were recorded in Alabama 

 waters during the January 1975 waterfowl survey (Goldsberry et al. 1980). 



Mississippi Burleigh (1944) reported that goldeneyes occur regularly, but 

 in very small numbers, along the Gulf coast of Mississippi. More recent obser- 

 vations in the state (Jackson 1976, Jackson and Weber 1976) suggest that this 

 pattern still holds. The largest groups of Common Goldeneyes reported were of 

 18 and 10 birds (Jackson and Weber 1977, Jackson and Cooley 1978a). None was 

 reported for either Mississippi or Louisiana during the 1975 winter survey 

 (Goldsberry et al. 1980). 



Louisiana The Common Goldeneye is seen regularly in bays and lagoons along 

 the coast, and in large lakes, but not in large numbers. In most instances, the 

 winter visit lasts only from November to February (Lowery 1974). 



Texas The Common Goldeneye occurs irregularly along the Texas coast, al- 

 though it may be locally common at times (Oberholser 1974). Bellrose (1976) 

 indicated that some 1,300 goldeneyes winter in Texas; only about 100 reach the 

 coast. Only 30 were reported on the 1975 census (Goldsberry et al. 1980). They 

 usually occur in Texas from mid-November to mid-May, although a few Common 

 Goldeneyes are occasionally seen outside these periods (Oberholser 1974). 



SYNOPSIS OF PRESENT DISTRIBUTION AND ABUNDANCE 



Breeding In North America, the Common Goldeneye breeds primarily in Can- 

 ada in a broad area from central Alaska, the Yukon Territory, and northwestern 

 Mackenzie eastward across the Prairie Provinces to Hudson Bay and the Atlantic 

 coast of Labrador and Newfoundland. The southern limits of the breeding range 

 are in the northern tier of the United States (Bellrose 1976, Palmer 1976b). 

 Estimates of summer populations in Canada total approximately 1,225,000 birds; 

 Alaskan birds number about 45,000, and those in the United States south of Can- 

 ada, about 10,000 (Bellrose 1976). The centers of abundance in Canada are the 

 boreal forests. Breeding populations in Europe are large; Cramp et al. (1977) 

 cited breeding populations of about 100,000 birds in Finland and about 240,000 

 in European and western Asian U.S.S.R. 



Winter Winter populations of the Common Goldeneye seem small relative to 



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