Goosander nesting

Hi Paul and Birdwatcher,

Thanks for the information!  There are trees right along much of the river so I guess that means is is possible that they may nest nearby!  Though I'm not sure if there are any trees with suitable holes that they could fit into but part of the river is on private grounds so they could be better nesting sites there.

I'll have to keep an eye on them over the next few months :-)

Kat

Goosander are very sociable birds for most of the year. Outside of the breeding season they are often seen in large flocks of potentially thousands of birds in suitable habitat (as mentioned above). Pairs usually stay in these flocks until they reach their breeding areas in April and thereafter. Most pair bonds are made throughout mid winter and during the spring migrations.. however, the pair bond then ends during incubation of the eggs or sometimes even at the start. On occassion males have been observed with with females and young. So similar to the reeding habits of mallards i guess! Goosander also don't really have any territorial drive and females on communal breeding areas can sometimes be seen looking for nest sites together. A bit like the girls going off to the shops and having a natter really! :-)

Hi,

the typical Goosander breeding territory is about 2-3 miles long.  The British breeding population is about 2500 pairs.

Down here in the south we think of them as winter visitors- it was a shock when I encountered one on a Welsh river in the middle of summer in  1981.

:)

S

Hi Kat

Here are some more facts about Goosanders, and their nesting habits

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The Oxford book of Birds extract {but in my own words}

For interest the female is the biggest of the ‘Sawbill’ Group.  They fish as part of their diet so they need to nest near streams, and waterways.  Small parties of Goosanders remain together, and then they break up into pairs.  A pair involve themselves with complicated ‘courtship’ displays in silence. The drake gives a croaking call.  The duck gives a harsh call.  She nests in a hollow tree, under big boulders or in a bank.  She lays a clutch up to 12 eggs.  They hatch in about 5 weeks.  The young flutter out of the nest hole and fledge after another 5 weeks.  They then go down to larger lochs/waterways where they are joined by other 'winter' visitors.

Regards

Kathy and Dave

Goosanders are one of those species the wildlife documentary makers love to show when the fledglings take the big step out of their tree nest hole to the ground below. Bit like freefall parachute jumping without the parachute. Fortunately these first time skydivers seem to bounce quite well before scurrying off in pursuit of Mum. 

Thank you for the info everyone!  It has all been very useful!

Blackbird - the goosander will have a lot of choice around here, there are big boulders used as part of the wall on one side of the river (I assume to prevent erosion of the wall), there are embankments with trees on top which would no doubt have created plenty of suitable holes and plenty of big trees that could easily be suitable!  The waterway is pretty big with smaller burns running into it. 

I'm wondering which of his ladies the drake is going to chose!  Perhaps another male will come in to join them, I'm sure they used to be two males but I've only seen one for a while.  They've spent all winter on this part of the river, whether they are some of the same birds that are around over the summer though I don't know but they don't seem to be showing signs of moving anywhere.

Guess I'll just have to wait and see what happens!  I never saw any chicks last year though there were at least one pair of goosander there.

Haven't see the goosander for a good few days now :-(  I hope they haven't moved away!