Species: Histrionicus histrionicus
Harlequin Duck
Species
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Encyclopedia of Puget Sound

Classification
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Craniata
Class
Aves
Order
Anseriformes
Family
Anatidae
Genus
Histrionicus
NatureServe
Classification
Other Global Common Names
Pato ArlequÃn - arlequin plongeur
Informal Taxonomy
Animals, Vertebrates - Birds - Waterfowl
Formal Taxonomy
Animalia - Craniata - Aves - Anseriformes - Anatidae - Histrionicus
Ecology and Life History
Short General Description
A small duck.
Migration
false - true - true - Migrates northward and inland in spring (March-June). Arrives in breeding areas in the intermountain western U.S. late-April through mid-May (Spahr et al. 1991). Moves southward along coast in fall, from September into November (Terres 1980). Usually returns to wintering areas off Alaska by the end of September (Johnson and Herter 1989). In the intermountain western U.S., males depart for the west coast soon after females begin incubating; breeding areas in late summer (Spahr et al. 1991). Young accompany their mothers to coastal molting or wintering areas in the late summer (Regehr et al. 2001).
Non-migrant
false
Locally Migrant
true
Food Comments
Diet is almost exclusively benthic aquatic invertebrates; feeds primarily on crustaceans and mollusks, also insects, and a few small fishes (Bellrose 1976); marine diet also includes roe. Dives for food in strong currents.
Reproduction Comments
In the intermountain western U.S., incubation begins mid-May through late June, depending on elevation and snow melt (Spahr et al. 1991). Male defends female until incubation begins, then pair bond ends. Clutch size is 5-10 (usually 6-8). Incubation reported as 27-32 days, by female. Nestlings are precocial and downy. Young are tended by female, first fly in 5-6 weeks. Brood size at fledging usually is 2-5. First breeds apparently at 2 years. Compared to other ducks, productivity is relatively low (Spahr et al. 1991) and highly variable from year to year. Long-term pair bond, renewed on the wintering grounds each year (Smith et al. 2000; Gowans et al. 1997; Robertson et al. 1999; Robertson et al. 2000).
Ecology Comments
Often seen in compact flocks during the non-breeding season. Females and paired males show strong philopatry to wintering site; juvenile males appear to have higher emigration rates, making local population differentiation unlikely (Cooke et al. 2000, Robertson et al. 2000). Males are not territorial on the wintering grounds; it appears that Harlequin Ducks have a mate-defense mating system (Robertson et al. 2000). The group migration of mothers and offspring to traditional molting or wintering grounds may contribute to genetic differentiation among populations (Regehr et al. 2001).
Length
42
Weight
687
Conservation Status
NatureServe Global Status Rank
G4
Global Status Last Reviewed
1996-12-11
Global Status Last Changed
1996-12-11
Distribution
Conservation Status Map
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Global Range
H - >2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles) - H - Holarctic. Nesting occurs in Eurasia and two disjunct regions in North America. Pacific population breeds from western Alaska (see Johnson and Herter 1989 for details), northern Yukon, northern British Columbia, and southern Alberta south to Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, and east of the Continental Divide in Montana (perhaps historically in California and Colorado). The Atlantic population breeds from Baffin Island (at least formerly), Greenland, and Iceland through central and eastern Quebec, eastern Labrador, northern Newfoundland (perhaps historically much more widely in the North Atlantic region). This duck occurs in summer in Mackenzie Valley and near Great Slave Lake, Northwest Territories. In the Palearctic, harlequin ducks breed in Iceland and Greenland, and from the Lena River in Siberia east to Kamchatka and south to northern Mongolia and the Kurile Islands (American Ornithologists Union 1983). During the nonbreeding season, harlequin ducks occur in Eurasia; Aleutian and Pribilof islands south to central California; southern Labrador, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, south to Maryland (but mostly north of Cape Cod); accidental in Hawaii; they are much more abundant in the Aleutians than farther south in southwestern Canada and U.S. Pacific Northwest.
Global Range Code
H
Global Range Description
>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)