Long-tailed and Harlequin Ducks

     There was a report of someone seeing more than 40 long-tailed ducks on the Susquehanna River at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on December, 2017.  That number of long-tails so far inland is remarkable.  That species nests by lakes and ponds on the Arctic tundra where multitudes of courting drakes are noisy as each one repeatedly calls "ow owdle ow".  But most long-tails winter along sea coasts.  That group of long-tailed ducks on the Susquehanna may have been moving south and to the Atlantic Coast for the winter, but stopped on the river to rest and feed.   
     Drake long-tailed and harlequin ducks, in winter, are the prettiest ducks along the Atlantic Ocean Coast in northeastern North America.  The colors and color patterns of their feathering are attractive and distinctive, making them thrilling to see bobbing in the waves along the shores of the ocean, inlets and estuaries they inhabit during winter. 
     Females of both these small species of ducks, however, are a little browner and plainer.  Male and female long-tails have brown and white plumages, but the patterns are different on each gender.  And drake long-tails have two long, black feathers protruding from their tails that give them their name. 
     Male harlequins have dark-steel-blue, white and rusty feathering, which is very striking.  But their mates that brood eggs and ducklings are better camouflaged with brown plumages, and two white dots on each side of their faces.
     Rafts of common and beautiful long-tails winter along the Atlantic Ocean from Newfoundland south to North Carolina's Outer Banks.  There they swiftly fly just above the breakers along ocean beaches, creating picturesque, inspiring scenes.  They land on the water just beyond the breakers in the ocean, as well as on inlets off the ocean.  There they dive under water to feed on mollusks, particularly mussels, small crustaceans and some small fish.  Some long-tails, however, winter on the Great Lakes and southern Hudson Bay, if parts of them have open water all winter.
     The foot-long harlequin ducks winter along rocky coastlines and human-made rock jetties on Atlantic beaches in the eastern United States south to Virginia.  There they bob in the waves right beside the semi-immersed boulders and strip blue mussels and small crustaceans off those rocks with their beaks.  Though the handsome harlequins and long-tails both dive and swim under water to consume the same kinds of foods, they don't directly compete with each other because they get their food in different niches, and, therefore, can live in the same general habitat with little rivalry for winter sustenance.  Both these species, like several kinds of ducks, run and flap across water to become airborne, however.
     And these two small kinds of ducks don't compete for nesting sites on the Arctic tundra either.  Harlequin hens hatch young along cold, fast-moving streams, not ponds like long-tail females.  However, the young of both species ingest lots of insects as they quickly grow up during the short Arctic summer.
     If along the Atlantic Coast in winter, look for these two kinds of handsome ducks near the beaches and rock jetties.  Their striking plumages, especially on the drakes, and interesting habits are well worth the effort.  They are real beauties along the winter seacoasts.