Incubation behaviors and patterns of nest attendance in common goldeneyes in Interior Alaska

We hypothesized that nest attendance characteristics in Common Goldeneyes (Bucephala clangula) at the northern limit of their range differ from those of more southern populations. In 2002 and 2003, we used artificial eggs containing temperature-sensing data loggers to obtain nest attendance data from 20 incubating females over 515 days. On average (+/-SE), each female spent 79.8 +/- 0.3% of the day on the nest, and took 2.9 +/- 0.1 recesses per day, each averaging 100.7 +/- 1.5 minutes. These recess characteristics were comparable to those reported for other Common Goldeneye populations. Most recesses (88%) occurred between 09:00 and 22:00 Alaskan Daylight Time although recesses were initiated at all times of day. Female incubation behavior does not appear to be strongly influenced by coarse-level environmental variables or the female-specific variables that we measured, but could be related to a complex assortment of fine-scale environmental or endogenous factors.