Harlequin Duck
Histrionicus histrionicus

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Anatidae
Genus: Histrionicus

Audio for Species

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from Macaulay Library

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Description

Length: 13-21.3 in (33-54 cm) Weight: 17.6-25.6 oz (500-726 g) Wingspan: 22-26 in (56-66 cm)

Harlequins are a medium-sized diving ducks. The Harlequin male has a blue-gray head and body. with a white crescent behind bill, and two white patches on the side of the head, one is a round ear spot, the other a vertical stripe. There are white streaks on neck and breast. White scapulars and brown flanks. The tail, undertail covert, and uppertail coverts are black. The juvenille male similar to adult male but the plumage is duller . The female has a dark brown head and body, with two to three distinct spots on the head and a pale belly . Both male and female have a gray short bill.

Habitat, Range, and Feeding

Their habitat is mountain streams and rivers, usually in forested regions. During winter, they can be found primarily in turbulent coastal waters, especially in rocky regions.

They are ground nesters, sometimes in tree cavities, or on stumps, and the female selects the site; which is usually less than 15 feet of water. Nests are placed on or under stumps, logs, soil, humus, scree, and cliff ledges. The nesting materials include conifer needles, mosses, leaf litter, or small stones for the outer structure; then lined with down when incubation begins. The clutch size is 3 to 9 eggs, that are pale creamy to a pale raw sienna. The incubation period is 27 to 29 days. The chicks leave the nest within 2 days after hatching and are self feeding right after hatching. They start diving when they are 3 to 4 weeks old, and they have first flight in about 55 days.

They eat young and adult aquatic insects and fish roe. During winter, they consume intertidal and subtidal marine invertebrates, mostly crabs, amphipods, and gastropods, and occasionally small fish and fish roe; diving to a depth of 32.8-65.62 feet (10-20 m).