Harlequin Duck

Harlequin Duck, common name for a visually striking diving duck. In the nesting season of spring and summer, it lives along shallow, rushing streams, rapids, and waterfalls in far northern regions of the world, such as Alaska, Greenland, Nova Scotia, Siberia, and Northeast China, and also in mountainous regions of Washington, Oregon, and California. In winter, it migrates in small flocks along waterways to nearby rough, rocky coastal waters.

Named after Harlequin, a stock character of Italian comedy costumed in bold colors of dark and light, the adult male harlequin duck is blue-gray with chestnut sides and multiple lines, patches, and spots of white. Females and young males are a uniform brown, with three white spots on either side of the head. A relatively small duck, the harlequin is about 38 to 53 cm (about 15 to 21 in) long. Like all ducks, it has webbed toes for swimming and a broad, flat bill. It is usually silent except during courtship.

While on its nesting grounds along streams, the harlequin duck eats the nymphs, or immature forms, of aquatic insects such as mayflies, stone flies, and caddis flies, and may also eat some plant material. At sea, it feeds around rocks and breakwaters, eating sea worms, crabs, mussels, periwinkles, barnacles, snails, and a few small fish. It forages by using its wings and feet to swim underwater or by diving to the bottom of a stream, then walking along against the current, poking among the rocks and gravel for food. It uses its bill to pry items from underwater rocks and may also dabble on the surface or upend in shallow water.

Nesting usually takes place between May and July. Several males may court one female, surrounding her on the water with courtship displays in which the male raises his tail, stretches his neck, and repeatedly bobs his head. The male may utter a high-pitched squeaking and the female a harsh croak. The female selects the nest site, usually in a hollow on the ground, well hidden, and close to water, and builds the nest with grass, weeds, and twigs lined with down. The nest may also be placed in the hollow of a tree or in a cavity among rocks.

The female lays six to eight creamy or pale buff eggs, then incubates, or warms, them by sitting on them for 27 to 30 days until the young hatch. The male usually deserts the female early in the incubation period. Whenever the female leaves the nest to feed, she covers the eggs with down plucked from her body to keep them warm. The young leave the nest shortly after hatching and begin to feed themselves although they are still cared for by the female until they are ready to fly, about 40 days after hatching. Broods, or batches, of young from different mothers are often grouped together under the care of several females.

Scientific classification: The harlequin duck is a member of the duck family, Anatidae, in the order Anseriformes, and is classified as Histrionicus histrionicus, meaning stage player.

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