Harlequin Duck (Histrionicus histrionicus) in the Georgia Straights British Columbia Canada. SCO 8794.
Their breeding habitat is cold fast moving streams in north-western and north-eastern North America, Greenland, Iceland and western Russia. The nest is usually located in a well-concealed location on the ground near a stream. They are usually found near pounding surf and white water. They are short distance migrants and most winter near rocky shorelines on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. They are very rare migrants to western Europe. The eastern North American population is declining and is considered endangered. Possible causes include loss of habitat due to hydroelectric projects and loss of life due to oil spills near coastal areas. Today, this is the only species of its genus. Two prehistoric harlequin ducks were described from fossils, although both were initially placed in a distinct genus: Histrionicus shotwelli is known from Middle to Late Miocene deposits of Oregon, USA and was considered to form a distinct monotypic genus, Ocyplonessa. Histrionicus ceruttii, which lived in California during the Late Pliocene, was at first taken to be a species of the related genus Melanitta.
Size: 5828px × 4197px
Location: Beachcomber Park, Nanoose Bay. Parksville. British Columbia. Canada.
Photo credit: © David Gowans / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., adult, adults, air, america, base, bill., birds, blue, bodies, bounce, brownish-grey, buoyant, chestnut, chilly, colourful, corks, crescent, crustaceans, dabble., densely, diver, dives., diving., duck, ear-patch., eat, exceptionally, eye., feathers, feed, females, glacier, harlequin, harlequins, head, including, insects., insulating, ladies, lords, lot, making, males, markings, molluscs, mountain, names, north, packed, painted, patch, plumage, ply., pole, rock, sea, sides, slate, small, smooth, squeaker, streak, swimming, totem, trap, vital, water, waters, white, white-eyed
