Michigan Audubon Connecting birds and people - November 29, 2013

Photo Credit: Steve Byland/123RF

Featuring: The Long-tailed Duck
formerly known as the Oldsquaw

Wintering Grounds
These ducks winter on the open ocean or large lakes along the Atlantic Coast and Great Lakes. Occasionally, they are found wintering on the northern shores of the Gulf Coast.

Breeding Grounds
Long-tailed Ducks are arctic waterfowl that are found in the summer months in Alaska, the Canadian provinces of Yukon, The Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Manitoba, Quebec and Newfoundland.

Migration Range
Late migrants, these ducks are observed migrating through Ontario and Quebec along with Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and most of the New England states between September and November.

Size & Shape
Medium-sized diving ducks, males display a long central tail.  The duck measures 15 to 22.8 inches in length with a wing span of around 28 inches and weighing between 17.6 to 38.8 ounces. Females tend to be slightly smaller than the males.

Coloring
Unlike most ducks, the Long-tailed Duck goes through a unique sequence of three different plumages throughout the year. According to Cornell Lab, “the Long-tailed Duck has three distinct plumages each year, achieved in a complex series of overlapping partial molts. The Definitive Basic Plumage is never worn in its entirety, as portions of Alternate are retained through the summer and elements of the Supplemental are acquired before all of Basic Plumage is obtained. Therefore change in plumage seems continuous from April to October.”

Male
Winter: Adult males display a white crown, neck andbreast with a grey patch around their eyes. A large black spot extends from the cheek down the side of the neck along with a black band across the lower neck and breast. He has a black back and central tail feathers.  Upper back feathers are long and grey. He has dull yellow-brown eyes.
Summer: Males display a black head, chest and wings with a grey patch surrounding its eyes. Upper back feathers are long and sandy colored with black centers. Central tail feathers are very long.

 

Female
Winter: White head and neck with a round dark cheek patch. She displays a grey crown, breast and back with a white belly.
Summer: Adult females display a dark head and neck with white around the eyes. Back and breast is brown to grey; her eyes are brown.

Juveniles: Immature Long-tailed Ducks resemble adults of the same sex.

“Unlike other waterfowl, the Long-tailed Duck wears its "breeding" or Alternate Plumage only in the winter. It gets its "nonbreeding" or Basic Plumage in the spring and wears it for the breeding season. Most other ducks wear the nonbreeding plumage only for a short period in the late summer.” Cornell Lab.

Habitat
During the winter months these ducks can be found far offshore in fresh estuarine, saline, brackish waters or on large, deep freshwater lakes. They can be found in large rafts on Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. During the breeding season they prefer open oceans or large lakes that provide both aquatic and terrestrial environment in close proximity, such as the marshy grass tundra in the arctic.

Food
Long-tailed Ducks are one of the deepest diving ducks in North America; diving to depths of 200 feet. When diving it preys on crustaceans, mollusks, marine invertebrates, small fish, fish eggs, freshwater insects and insect larvae. It also consumes some plant materials such as algae, grasses, seeds and fruits in the tundra biome. Mature adults typically spend 80% of their day foraging during the winter months. Dive times range from around 25 seconds all the way up to 60 seconds and normally occur around 320 feet offshore.

Behavior
Besides their unique diving behaviors these ducks are very social with their own species and spend most of their lives in one group or another. Males and females molt at different times of the year.  Males molt between July and September while females molt between August and October.

Sound
These are very vocal ducks, they have a variety of different calls including a growling, clucking, squawking, and yodeling sound. The most common call resembles a “ow-owooolee” and is loud, nasally and incessant. Additional calls include a “gut-gut” sound while feeding and the duck may bark when it is alarmed.

Nests
Nests are constructed on the ground, near the water’s edge and consists of a shallow scrape lined with willow and birch leaves and layered in down.

Conservation Status
Vulnerable. Populations are appearing to decline range-wide but exact numbers are hard to calculate because of the duck’s offshore wintering grounds. The species saw a large decline in numbers during the 1950’s due to entanglement in nets, especially on the Great Lakes. The duck is also susceptible to avian cholera and influenza.  According to the University of Michigan, the current estimated population is between 6.2 to 6.8 million individual ducks.

Interesting Facts

• According to Cornell Lab, “of all diving ducks, the Long-tailed Duck spends the most time under water relative to time on the surface. When it is foraging it is submerged three to four times as much as it is on top of the water.”
• The average lifespan in the wild for a Long-tailed Duck is 15.3 years.
• Hatchlings leave the nest once they are dry and can immediately feed themselves.

Your Bird Crew,