Barrow’s goldeneye: The quiet bird

As other ducks boisterously announce their presence quacking, whistling, and peeping in the small, forested lakes and ponds of northwestern United States, Canada, and Iceland, the handsome black and white Barrow’s goldeneye, a diving sea duck, floats silently upon the water.  

These quiet ducks vocalize in low guttural squawks and croaks only during the breeding season which occurs in Montana in early May to mid-July. Upon rising in flight their wings whistle as they pass overhead. Indeed, they have earned the nickname “whistlers” because of the whistling sound made by their wings as they fly. This whistle is produced by fast flight and rapid wingbeats.