The Introduction Article is just the first of 11 articles in each species account that provide life history information for the species. The remaining articles provide detailed information regarding distribution, migration, habitat, diet, sounds, behavior, breeding, current population status and conservation. Each species account also includes a multimedia section that displays the latest photos, audio selections and videos from Macaulay Library’s extensive galleries. Written and continually updated by acknowledged experts on each species, Birds of North America accounts include a comprehensive bibliography of published research on the species.
A subscription is needed to access the remaining account articles and multimedia content.
Adult male Long-tailed Duck, breeding plumage; Churchill, Manitoba; June
; photographer Arthur Morris
Known as the Long-tailed Duck in Europe, and until recently as the Oldsquaw in North America, this midsize sea duck is a true arctic species, breeding in tundra and taiga regions around the globe, as far as 80°N. After breeding, it migrates to cold and temperate-water coasts of North America, western Greenland, eastern Asia, and the Great Lakes. Individuals dive for food, to impressive depths not reached by other sea ducks (more than 60 meters), and have a broad diet of animal prey, focusing on food items that are locally abundant.
Unlike other waterfowl, Long-tailed Ducks have 3 plumages, instead of the normal 2 (
Salomonsen, F. (1949a). Some notes on the moult of the Long-tailed Duck. Avic. Mag. 55:59-62.
Salomonsen 1949a). Additionally, the male Alternate plumage is worn only in winter, while the Basic plumage is acquired in spring and worn for the breeding season. The most distinctive feature, one that gives this species its name, is the 2 slim and elongated central tail feathers that stream behind the male. In summer, white feathers on the head of the male are replaced with black, and the male in breeding condition shows a bright-pink band around his bill. A distinctive feature of this bird is its call: nasal-sounding and audible from quite a distance along the coasts of its wintering grounds and on its tundra breeding grounds.
Despite its wide distribution, relatively little research has been devoted to this species. For behavior and reproductive ecology, studies by Alison (
Alison, R. M. (1973). Delayed nesting in Oldsquaws. Bird-Banding 44:61-62.
Alison 1973,
Alison, R. M. (1975a). Breeding biology and behavior of the Oldsquaw (Clangula hyemalis L.). Ornithological Monographs 18:1-52.
Alison 1975a,
Alison, R. M. (1975b). Capturing and marking Oldsquaws. Bird-Banding 46:248-250.
Alison 1975b,
Alison, R. M. (1976). Oldsquaw brood behavior. Bird-Banding 47:210-213.
Alison 1976,
Alison, R. M. (1977). Homing of subadult Oldsquaws. Auk 94:383-384.
Alison 1977), Pehrsson (
Pehrsson, O. (1986). Duckling production of the Oldsquaw in relation to spring weather and small-rodent fluctuations. Canadian Journal of Zoology 64:1835-1841.
Pehrsson 1986), and Pehrsson and Nyström (
Pehrsson, O. and K. G. K. Nyström. (1988). Growth and movements of Oldsquaw ducklings in relation to food. Journal of Wildlife Management 52:185-191.
Pehrsson and Nyström 1988) are comprehensive. Timing of migration and migration monitoring are described by Johnson and Richardson (
Johnson, S. R. and W. J. Richardson. (1982). Waterbird migration near the Yukon and Alaskan coast of the Beaufort Sea: II. Moult migration of seaducks in summer. Arctic 35 (2):291-301.
Johnson and Richardson 1982), Woodby and Divoky (
Woodby, D. A. and G. J. Divoky. (1982). Spring migration of eiders and other waterbirds at Point Barrow, Alaska. Arctic 35:403-410.
Woodby and Divoky 1982), and Alexander et al. (
Alexander, S. A., D. M. Ealey and S. J. Barry. (1988). Spring migration of eiders, Oldsquaws and Glaucous Gulls along offshore leads of the Canadian Beaufort Sea. Edmonton, AB: Can. Wildl. Serv., Western and Northern Region.
Alexander et al. 1988,
Alexander, S. A., D. L. Dickson, and S. E. Westover (1997). Spring migration of eiders and other waterbirds in offshore areas of the western Arctic. In King and Common Eiders of the Western Canadian Arctic (D. L. Dickson, Editor), Canadian Wildlife Service Occasional Paper 94. Environment Canada, Canadian Wildlife Service, Ottawa, ON, Canada. pp. 6–20.
Alexander et al. 1997). On the wintering grounds, feeding ecology has been studied by Peterson and Ellarson (
Peterson, S. R. and R. S. Ellarson. (1977). Food habits of Oldsquaws wintering on Lake Michigan. Wilson Bulletin 89:81-91.
Peterson and Ellarson 1977), Vermeer and Levings (
Vermeer, K. and C. D. Levings. (1977). Populations, biomass and food habits of ducks on the Fraser River Delta intertidal area, British Columbia. Wildfowl 28:49-60.
Vermeer and Levings 1977), Johnson (
Johnson, S. R. (1984b). "Prey selection by Oldsquaws in a Beaufort Sea lagoon, Alaska." In Marine birds: their feeding ecology and commercial fisheries relationships., edited by G. A. Sanger and P. F. Springer, 12-19. Ottawa, ON: Can. Wildl. Serv. Spec. Publ.
Johnson 1984b), Sanger and Jones (
Sanger, G. A., and R. D. Jones, Jr. (1984). Winter feeding ecology and trophic relationships of Oldsquaws and White-winged Scoters on Kachemak Bay, Alaska. In Marine Birds: Their Feeding Ecology and Commercial Fisheries Relationships (G. A. Sanger and P. F. Springer, Editors). Canadian Wildlife Service Special Publication, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. pp. 20-28.
Sanger and Jones 1984), Goudie and Ankney (
Goudie, R. I. and C. D. Ankney. (1986). Body size, activity budgets, and diets of sea ducks wintering in Newfoundland. Ecology 67:1475-1482.
Goudie and Ankney 1986), and Jamieson et al. (
Jamieson, S. E., G. J. Robertson and H. G. Gilchrist. (2001). Autumn and winter diet of Long-tailed Ducks wintering in the Belcher Islands, Nunavut, Canada. Waterbirds 23:129-132.
Jamieson et al. 2001) and nutrient reserve dynamics by Peterson and Ellarson (
Peterson, S. R. and R. S. Ellarson. (1979). Changes in Oldsquaw weight. Wilson Bulletin 91:288-300.
Peterson and Ellarson 1979) and Leafloor et al. (
Leafloor, J. O., J. E. Thompson and C. D. Ankney. (1996). Body mass and carcass composition of fall migrant Oldsquaws. Wilson Bulletin 108:567-572.
Leafloor et al. 1996). Contaminants have been examined by Peterson and Ellarson (
Peterson, S. R. and R. S. Ellarson. (1975). Incidence of body shot in Lake Michigan Oldsquaws. Journal of Wildlife Management 39:217-219.
Peterson and Ellarson 1975,
Peterson, S. R. and R. S. Ellarson. (1976). Total mercury residues in livers and eggs of Oldsquaws. Journal of Wildlife Management 40:704-709.
Peterson and Ellarson 1976,
Peterson, S. R. and R. S. Ellarson. (1978b). p, p'-DDE, polychlorinated biphenyls, and endrin in Oldsquaws in North America, 1969-73. Pesticides Monitoring Journal 11:170-181.
Peterson and Ellarson 1978b).
The Long-tailed Duck is hunted throughout its range, by native hunters in the North and by recreational hunters in southern Canada and the northern United States. Obtaining population size and trend estimates for this species have proven difficult, as it usually winters in flocks of various sizes, is widely distributed, and can be far offshore. Available data for the west coast of North America suggest that this species is declining drastically. On the east coast, trends do not show evidence of declines, but estimates have been difficult to obtain.
Recommended Citation
Robertson, G. J. and J. L. Savard (2002). Long-tailed Duck (Clangula hyemalis), version 2.0. In The Birds of North America (A. F. Poole and F. B. Gill, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bna.651