Texas Waterfowl

Long-tailed Duck

110 bill with a bright yellow, swollen base; the yellow area has a notable ridge. Males and females weigh about 2.5 and 2.2 pounds, respectively. SOURCES Cottam 1939; Bellrose 1980; Vermeer and Bourne 1984; Gooders and Boyer 1986; Bordage and Savard 1995; Lockwood and Freeman 2004; NAWMP 2004; Eubanks et al. 2006. LONG-TAILED DUCK Clangula hyemalis Long-tailed Ducks are rare to very rare in Texas. They potentially occur throughout the state, although they are most common in the Coastal Prairies. Only one banded Long-tailed Duck has been recovered in Texas; surprisingly, the recovery occurred in the High Plains. They tend to occur in Texas between mid-November and early April. Black Scoter (female-type). Photograph courtesy of Glenn Bartley/VIREO, taken November 13, 2007, Qualicum Beach, British Columbia. 111 This species was formerly known as Oldsquaw. They have a circumpolar distribution , breeding across the arctic and subarctic regions of Europe, Asia, and North America. Breeding pairs use both freshwater streams and ponds. They also use offshore islands that have freshwater and suitable nesting cover. They nest on the ground and often very close to one another in small colonies. Their pair bonds are seasonal. Long-tailed Ducks primarily winter along the northern Pacific and Atlantic coasts. They are also found in Hudson Bay, southern Greenland, and the Great Lakes. Wintering birds mainly use estuaries, bays, and nearshore areas. Outside of the breeding season, their diet includes gastropods, bivalves, and aquatic worms. From 1994 to 2003 the North American population was estimated to number 1 million annually. Their population has declined by almost 50 percent since the late 1970s. Male and female Long-tailed Ducks weigh about 2.4 and 1.6 pounds, respectively. They are the only North American duck with three, instead of two, plumages per year. In fact, they have one of the most complex plumages of any bird. Most of their plumages consist of white, gray, black, and brown in varying amounts. In all plumages males are notable for their long pintail-like black tail. The plumage worn during winter largely corresponds to the breeding plumage of most other ducks. In this plumage, males have a white head, neck, and upper breast. The sides of their head, however, are gray, and the sides of their upper neck are black. The lower portion of their breast is black, and their back is covered by long gray feathers. Their belly is Long-tailed Duck (female). Photograph by Lawrence Semo, January 22, 2010, Austin, Travis County, Texas. sea ducks 112 white. Their bill is black with a wide orange band across the middle. Females are brown during winter but have a black crown and white face. Most males observed in Texas are first-year birds, which are similar in appearance to adults. However, the sides of their head and upper neck are brownish. Other plumages of Long-tailed Ducks are more brown and black than their winter plumage. SOURCES Drury 1961; Alison 1975; Peterson and Ellarson 1977; Rofritz 1977; Bellrose 1980; Gooders and Boyer 1986; Goudie and Ankney 1986; Robertson and Savard 2002; Lockwood and Freeman 2004; NAWMP 2004; Eubanks et al. 2006; Schamber et al. 2009; USGS 2010. BUFFLEHEAD Bucephala albeola All eight cavity-nesting ducks in North America are secondary cavity nesters, meaning that they do not excavate their own nesting holes but instead use cavities that develop as a result of fire damage, storm damage, or rot, or cavities excavated by woodpeckers. Barrow’s Goldeneyes , Common Goldeneyes, Common Mergansers, Hooded Mergansers, Wood Ducks, and Buffleheads regularly use cavities excavated by Pileated Woodpeckers. However, Buffleheads also use cavities excavated by Northern Flickers; in fact, these cavities are their primary nesting sites. Other cavity-nesting ducks are too large to use Northern Flicker holes. TEXAS DISTRIBUTION Breeding: Buffleheads do not breed in Texas and only rarely linger into spring and summer. Migration: Buffleheads are common migrants across much of the state. In the High Plains they are more common during migration than in winter. In northeast Texas, including portions of the Pineywoods and Post Oak Savannah–Blackland Prairies, migrants arrive in late September or early October and remain through late April or early May. They arrive on the Coastal Prairies in early November and remain through late April. Winter: Wintering Buffleheads potentially occur throughout the state. From 2000 to 2008 they averaged 20,542 during the Texas Mid-winter Waterfowl Survey (TPWD...