Long-tailed Duck
Long-tailed Duck: Small diving duck, black upperparts, head, neck, breast, wings; back is black and brown mottled; white flanks, belly, undertail coverts. Black tail has long, pintail-like central feathers that are often submerged when swimming. Pale gray mask, black bill with dark pink saddle.
● Song:
"ow-owdle-ow, ow-owdle-ow"
● Foraging & Feeding:
Long-tailed Duck: Feeds on aquatic plants, shrimp, and insects; dives from the surface to forage underwater.
● Breeding & nesting:
Long-tailed Duck: Five to eleven olive buff, olive gray, or green yellow eggs are laid in a hollow of grass and down hidden in low vegetation or among rocks. Incubation ranges from 23 to 25 days and is carried out by the female. Young start to fly at 35 to 40 days.
● Similar species:
Long-tailed Duck: Northern Pintail lacks white face patch.
● Range & Habitat:
Long-tailed Duck: Breeds from Alaska east across most of northern Canada. Spends winters along the Pacific coast from the Bering Sea south to California; from Greenland, eastern North America, and Labrador south, including the Great Lakes, to South Carolina. Preferred habitats include a variety of coastal waters, mostly deeper waters of straits, bays, harbors, channels, and fiords. Other habitats include estuaries, offshore waters, mudflats, and rarely, large lakes and rivers.