Can you name this species of duck?
If not, this post was written with you in mind. I hope to pass on a surprisingly magical attraction and appreciation for these often overlooked and exceedingly unique creatures. The five colorful birds are males, the lone brown bird is a female of the same species.
This species of duck lives year-round in Washington State. However, the only time and place I have encountered them is in the Fall or Winter along saltwater shores. They search for food by diving below the surf, and reportedly even walking along the bottom, among the rocks and waves.
However, they can be a bit shy and will often move offshore to keep away from dogs. At a distance, binoculars can help since these ducks can appear to be just bobbing black blobs before suddenly submerging.
Plus, they often "snorkel" along, with their eyes underwater, while they search for invertebrates, like crabs, mussels & insects, or small fish.
Their bills are surprisingly small and delicate-looking, given the hard shells worn by many of their favorite foods.
Occasionally, after a morning of feeding well, and often during a high tide, they may come ashore to rest among quiet rocks, in the afternoon sunshine.
Small-billed Gulls often swoop in and land near these ducks. I suspect the gulls are hoping for accidental table scraps.
At first glance, I clearly thought the gulls were the larger birds. The Short-billed Gulls have a wingspan of 43", according to my Sibley's Field Guide.
These little ducks have a wingspan of just 26 inches. Which is nearly a foot and a half shorter than the Gulls'! And yet, these ducks on average weigh about a third more (~21 ounces) than the Short-billed Gulls (~15 ounces).
Can you guess which of these two species works harder to fly and has faster wingbeats?
Here are a couple of hints. The gull often searches for food while soaring high in the air, riding on the wind that bounces off nearby bluffs. The little duck often barely lifts off the water and flies in short, quick bursts to reach the nearest safe spot along the shore, where it stops to search for food below the surf.
The numerous white marks, and especially the confusing white dot near the ear hole, do make it difficult to "spot" the bird's head.
From this angle, the bird's bill is a bit easier to see, which may help.
Zooming in on the face-down "snorkling" bird we saw earlier, it is easy to imagine it as a target for a predatory bird, like a Bald Eagle. The white dot looks an awful lot like an eye. Perhaps enough so to discourage an Eagle from wasting its time trying to catch such an "alert-looking" bird.
Even when out of the water, the white dots can resemble watchful eyes in the back of the head.
When looking straight on and close up, the white and dark pattern is still confusing. From this angle, the dark indentations about a quarter of the way down on the outside of the white vertical stripes remind me of eyes. I wonder if they might also help confuse predatory birds.
There are also other patches of surprising colors. There are two areas of iridescent blue on the ends of the secondary flight feathers. Each of these patches of color can also be referred to as a speculum. The iridescence only shows up in the right light at the correct angle. Perhaps it could be startling to a bird of prey.
There are also large patches of rich chestnut on each side of these birds, and smaller stripes on both sides of the crown of the head. The beauty of these patches is obvious their purpose is less so. Maybe it simply works as a form of camouflage to help disguise the distinctive shape of the duck.
I am guessing that these beautiful and varied colors are part of what inspired this species' name, i.e. The Harlequin Duck. The term Harlequin apparently originated from 16th-century comedic actors in Italian theatre and their colorful costumes. Click Here to read more about the history.
Notice another mystery related to the chestnut patches. They are curiously soft-looking patches that are located on the exterior of the body, where more durable-looking feathers might be expected.
In North America the majority of our annual migratory birds move south to escape the cold of Winter and north to breed and raise their young in Spring. Over thousands of years, some species have made other arrangements. Harlequin Ducks are an interesting example. In Washington State they move primarily east or west during Spring to reach mountain streams where the females lay their eggs, protect their nests, and ultimately begin to raise their young. Once the young are old enough they come down from the mountains and spend the cooler months feeding near our salt-water shores.
Their annual worldwide migration is even more curiously interesting. For an optimal display of the process follow these instructions:
- Click Here
- Click once on the minus sign on your left (this brings the world map into view).
- Click on the globe and turn it until you are looking down on the North Pole with the U.S. to your right, Russia to you left and Iceland near the top.
- To animate the view, click on the white triangle (against the blue background) in the lower right.
What startled me the most was how the Harlequin Ducks move primarily west from North America and east from Asia, to completely surround the Bering Sea (North of the Aleutian Islands) during the Summer. It is an incredible example of nature evolving to make the optimal use of an opportunity.
If you are curious, Click Here, to see the primarily north/south migration of Mallards and also how they avoid most of the Aleutian Islands and the Bering Sea.
If you haven't been carrying binoculars and wandering around the coast of Puget Sound or the Pacific Ocean in Washington State during the Winter, you may have never seen a Harlequin Duck. That is not surprising, because there are a number of other contributing factors that help reduce your odds, in addition to the rain and fog of Winter.
Compared to Mallards they:
- Are small - Harlequins average 21 ounces, Mallards ~39 ounces.
- Are scare - Worldwide Harlequin population ~230,000 (Mallard pop. ~19,000,000).
- And where they breed i.e. mountain streams and apparently around the Bering Sea.
Surprisingly, all of these Harlequin photos were taken near Useless Bay on Whidbey Island, which is often only an hour or so from Union Bay in Seattle. In the Winter, if you bring binocs and walk southwest from Double Bluff Park you should have a good chance of spotting Harlequins.
Have a great day on Useless Bay...where nature lives near the city!
Larry
ps: Partners in Flight is the source for the avian population estimates.
Going Native:
Each of us who breathes the air, drinks water, and eats food should be helping to protect our environment. Local efforts are most effective and sustainable. Native plants and trees encourage the largest diversity of lifeforms because of their long intertwined history with our local environment and the local native creatures. Even the microbes in the soil are native to each local landscape.
I hope we can inspire ourselves, our neighbors, and local businesses to respect native flora and support native wildlife at every opportunity. I have learned that our most logical approach to native trees and plants (in order of priority) should be to:
1) Learn and leave established native flora undisturbed.2) Remove invasive species and then wait to see if native plants begin to grow without assistance. (When native plants start on their own, then these plants or trees are likely the most appropriate flora for the habitat.)3) Scatter seeds from nearby native plants in a similar habitat.4) If you feel you must add a new plant, then select a native plant while considering how the plant fits with the specific habitat and understanding the plant's logical place in the normal succession of native plants.
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Keystone native plants are an important new idea. Douglas Tallamy, in the book "Nature's Best Hope, " explains that caterpillars supply more energy to birds, particularly young birds in their nests, than any other plant eater. He also mentions that 14% of our native plants, ie Keystone Plants, provide food for 90% of our caterpillars. This unique subset of native plants and trees enables critical moths, butterflies, and their caterpillars that provide food for the great majority of birds, especially when feeding their young.
Note: Flowering plants and trees, i.e. those pollinated by bees, are also included as Keystone Plants.
This video explains the native keystone plant concept in more detail:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5cXccWx030
The Top Keystone Genera in our ecoregion i.e. Plants and trees you might want in your yard:
Additional content available here:
https://wos.org/wos-wp/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Native-Plant-Resources-10-7-22.pdf
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In this area, I typically display at least one photo with each post to challenge us to know our native lifeforms. Can you identify the locally native tree with these Fall leaves?
Scroll down for the answer.
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The Answer:
Oregon White Oak: In our area this tree is the number one keystone tree to benefit caterpillars, butterflies and young birds. Given its habitat preferences it could, potentially, do well during climate change. However, it is currently declining in numbers. Click Here to learn how you can help.
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The Email Challenge:
In response, I have set up my own email list. With each post, I will manually send out an announcement. If you would like to be added to my personal email list please send me an email requesting to be added. Something like:
Larry, Please add me to your personal email list.
My email address is:
LDHubbell@comcast.net
Thank you!
FYI: I have begun using gmail to publish my posts since it allows more email addresses in a single batch. However, it still takes multiple days to send out the notices of a new post. Thank you for your patience.
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The Comment Challenge:
Bottom Line:
If you write a long comment, please, copy it before hitting enter. Then, if the comment function fails to record your information, you can send the comment directly to me using email.
My email address is:
LDHubbell@comcast.net
Larry
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