Long-tailed Duck

Description

As the name suggests, male Long-tailed Ducks have extremely long tail feathers. They have mostly black and white plumage with some small amount of brown. They have a white head with a large black patch on the cheek and a pink band around the bill. The females are various browns and have a white face with a small dark cap and smudgy brown cheek. The female Long-tails do not have the long tail feathers that the males have. Males make most of the vocalizations using a three-note call. Their Alutiiq name on Kodiak, aaraliq, mimics this call (Alutiiq Museum).

Habitat and Status

The Long-tailed Duck is a resident of the Chugach Region, occurring seasonally as a common migrant, an uncommon summer visitor and rare local breeder, and a common winter visitor along the coasts and in the bays and fjords (Isleib and Kessel 1973). Long-tailed Ducks nest in close clusters near arctic mountain lakes or seacoasts. Their nests with 6‒9 eggs are built in a small indentation on the ground that is lined with nearby vegetation and down. During thenonbreeding season, Long-tailed Ducks prefer to stay out at sea where they can dive as deep as 200 feet. Long-tailed Ducks partially open their wings and flap underwater to propel themselves, whereas most other diving ducks use their feet to dive. Even though they are territorial during courtship, during winter, they regularly socialize with other diving ducks at sea.

Long-tailed Duck populations have been declining, but there haven’t been any definitive answers on the cause(s). Some of the reasons thought to be the cause of the decline have been climate change and overfishing in the oceans, lead exposure along their nesting sites, and being entangled in fishing nets.

Distribution of Long-tailed Ducks in the Chugach Region.

Traditional Use

Long-tailed Ducks like to cackle and squawk. Until recently, American, and Canadian ornithologists called this duck, Old Squaw, in reference to its chatter. Recognized belatedly as offensive to Native American people, women and the elderly, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Alaska successfully petitioned the American Ornithologists’ Union to change the name to Long-tailed Duck in 2000. This change avoids hurtful stereotypes, and it makes it easier to discuss birds of the same species that live in different parts of the world (Alutiiq Museum).