Specie's Page                                               Water Fowl - Goosander Ducks

Goosander Duck:

UK Status: Resident, first bred in the UK in1871. There are four to five thousand breeding pairs in the UK, these numbers swell to more than fourteen thousand during winter when the overwintering birds arrive.

Habitat: These vary gregarious birds are to be seen in upland rivers during the summer, mainly in Wales an Scotland. During autumn through to late spring they move into lakes, pools, rivers and sometimes sheltered river estuaries at lower altitudes. Often they are seen in large flocks.

Breeding: Goosanders nest either alone, or in small groups, depending on on the number of available nesting sites. Nests are placed in cavities between rocks or tree roots, hollow tree trunks are highly favoured. These cavities are usually just lined with masses of downy feathers. There are eight to twelve pale yellowish colour eggs in a clutch, which are only incubated by the females. When the chicks hatch they rapidly take to the water, it's at this point that the males migrate to lower altitude. Females finish raising their young alone, and then migrate to lower altitude.

Comment: Not uncommon, though rarely seen on lowland waters during the summer. Non resident in Ireland, though they do see overwintering birds. In the rest of the UK these birds are mainly found in Wales, Devon and Cornwall, Northern England and Scotland.