Long-tailed Duck Clangula hyemalis Scientific name definitions

This midsize sea duck is a true arctic species, breeding in tundra and taiga regions around the globe, as far as 80°N. After breeding, it migrates to cold and temperate-water coasts of North America, western Greenland, eastern Asia, and the Great Lakes. Individuals dive for food, to impressive depths not reached by other sea ducks (more than 60 meters), and have a broad diet of animal prey, focusing on food items that are locally abundant.

Unlike other waterfowl, Long-tailed Ducks have 3 plumages, instead of the normal 2 (Salomonsen 1949a Salomonsen, F. (1949a). Some notes on the moult of the Long-tailed Duck. Avic. Mag. 55:59-62. Close ). Additionally, the male Alternate plumage is worn only in winter, while the Basic plumage is acquired in spring and worn for the breeding season. The most distinctive feature, one that gives this species its name, is the 2 slim and elongated central tail feathers that stream behind the male. In summer, white feathers on the head of the male are replaced with black, and the male in breeding condition shows a bright-pink band around his bill. A distinctive feature of this bird is its call: nasal-sounding and audible from quite a distance along the coasts of its wintering grounds and on its tundra breeding grounds.

Despite its wide distribution, relatively little research has been devoted to this species. For behavior and reproductive ecology, studies by Alison (Alison 1973 Alison, R. M. (1973). Delayed nesting in Oldsquaws. Bird-Banding 44:61-62. Close , Alison 1975a Alison, R. M. (1975a). Breeding biology and behavior of the Oldsquaw (Clangula hyemalis L.). Ornithological Monographs 18:1-52. Close , Alison 1975b Alison, R. M. (1975b). Capturing and marking Oldsquaws. Bird-Banding 46:248-250. Close , Alison 1976 Alison, R. M. (1976). Oldsquaw brood behavior. Bird-Banding 47:210-213. Close , Alison 1977 Alison, R. M. (1977). Homing of subadult Oldsquaws. Auk 94:383-384. Close ), Pehrsson (Pehrsson 1986 Pehrsson, O. (1986). Duckling production of the Oldsquaw in relation to spring weather and small-rodent fluctuations. Canadian Journal of Zoology 64:1835-1841. Close ), and Pehrsson and Nyström (Pehrsson and Nyström 1988 Pehrsson, O. and K. G. K. Nyström. (1988). Growth and movements of Oldsquaw ducklings in relation to food. Journal of Wildlife Management 52:185-191. Close ) are comprehensive. Timing of migration and migration monitoring are described by Johnson and Richardson (Johnson and Richardson 1982 Johnson, S. R. and W. J. Richardson. (1982). Waterbird migration near the Yukon and Alaskan coast of the Beaufort Sea: II. Moult migration of seaducks in summer. Arctic 35 (2):291-301. Close ), Woodby and Divoky (Woodby and Divoky 1982 Woodby, D. A. and G. J. Divoky. (1982). Spring migration of eiders and other waterbirds at Point Barrow, Alaska. Arctic 35:403-410. Close ), and Alexander et al. (Alexander et al. 1988 Alexander, S. A., D. M. Ealey and S. J. Barry. (1988). Spring migration of eiders, Oldsquaws and Glaucous Gulls along offshore leads of the Canadian Beaufort Sea. Edmonton, AB: Can. Wildl. Serv., Western and Northern Region. Close , Alexander et al. 1997 Alexander, S. A., D. L. Dickson, and S. E. Westover (1997). Spring migration of eiders and other waterbirds in offshore areas of the western Arctic. In King and Common Eiders of the Western Canadian Arctic (D. L. Dickson, Editor), Canadian Wildlife Service Occasional Paper 94. Environment Canada, Canadian Wildlife Service, Ottawa, ON, Canada. pp. 6–20. Close ). On the wintering grounds, feeding ecology has been studied by Peterson and Ellarson (Peterson and Ellarson 1977 Peterson, S. R. and R. S. Ellarson. (1977). Food habits of Oldsquaws wintering on Lake Michigan. Wilson Bulletin 89:81-91. Close ), Vermeer and Levings (Vermeer and Levings 1977 Vermeer, K. and C. D. Levings. (1977). Populations, biomass and food habits of ducks on the Fraser River Delta intertidal area, British Columbia. Wildfowl 28:49-60. Close ), Johnson (Johnson 1984b Johnson, S. R. (1984b). "Prey selection by Oldsquaws in a Beaufort Sea lagoon, Alaska." In Marine birds: their feeding ecology and commercial fisheries relationships., edited by G. A. Sanger and P. F. Springer, 12-19. Ottawa, ON: Can. Wildl. Serv. Spec. Publ. Close ), Sanger and Jones (Sanger and Jones 1984 Sanger, G. A., and R. D. Jones, Jr. (1984). Winter feeding ecology and trophic relationships of Oldsquaws and White-winged Scoters on Kachemak Bay, Alaska. In Marine Birds: Their Feeding Ecology and Commercial Fisheries Relationships (G. A. Sanger and P. F. Springer, Editors). Canadian Wildlife Service Special Publication, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. pp. 20-28. Close ), Goudie and Ankney (Goudie and Ankney 1986 Goudie, R. I. and C. D. Ankney. (1986). Body size, activity budgets, and diets of sea ducks wintering in Newfoundland. Ecology 67:1475-1482. Close ), and Jamieson et al. (Jamieson et al. 2001 Jamieson, S. E., G. J. Robertson and H. G. Gilchrist. (2001). Autumn and winter diet of Long-tailed Ducks wintering in the Belcher Islands, Nunavut, Canada. Waterbirds 23:129-132. Close ) and nutrient reserve dynamics by Peterson and Ellarson (Peterson and Ellarson 1979 Peterson, S. R. and R. S. Ellarson. (1979). Changes in Oldsquaw weight. Wilson Bulletin 91:288-300. Close ) and Leafloor et al. (Leafloor et al. 1996 Leafloor, J. O., J. E. Thompson and C. D. Ankney. (1996). Body mass and carcass composition of fall migrant Oldsquaws. Wilson Bulletin 108:567-572. Close ). Contaminants have been examined by Peterson and Ellarson (Peterson and Ellarson 1975 Peterson, S. R. and R. S. Ellarson. (1975). Incidence of body shot in Lake Michigan Oldsquaws. Journal of Wildlife Management 39:217-219. Close , Peterson and Ellarson 1976 Peterson, S. R. and R. S. Ellarson. (1976). Total mercury residues in livers and eggs of Oldsquaws. Journal of Wildlife Management 40:704-709. Close , Peterson and Ellarson 1978b Peterson, S. R. and R. S. Ellarson. (1978b). p, p'-DDE, polychlorinated biphenyls, and endrin in Oldsquaws in North America, 1969-73. Pesticides Monitoring Journal 11:170-181. Close ).

The Long-tailed Duck is hunted throughout its range, by native hunters in the North and by recreational hunters in southern Canada and the northern United States. Obtaining population size and trend estimates for this species have proven difficult, as it usually winters in flocks of various sizes, is widely distributed, and can be far offshore. Available data for the west coast of North America suggest that this species is declining drastically. On the east coast, trends do not show evidence of declines, but estimates have been difficult to obtain.