Goldeneye Courtship

I was lucky to witness the Common Goldeneye's courtship display which was quite spectacular. The drake Goldeneye showed off for the hens by splashing the water and flapping his wings saying, "Here I am. Look at me. I'm so pretty. I'm a BAD Man!" getting their attention.

At times he would snap his head over his back with his bill pointing upward then utter a shrill call impressing the hens although this hen didn't seem to be particularly moved.

Oddly enough, a week ago I observed a Redhead Duck laying his head over his back with his bill pointing to the sky similar to the Goldeneye.

There was a whole lot of neck stretching going on. They stretched it to the left.

And they stretched it to the right. The hen even got into it this go around.

The two hens were still playing hard to get so the drake Goldeneye put his best move on them stretching his neck and lifting his head high into the air with his bill pointing at the sky. What hen could resist this display by such a handsome, boisterous drake Goldeneye?

How similar is a Goldeneye's courtship behavior to our own? :)

Spring is in the air!