Long Tailed Duck - Duck Hunting - Wetland Hunting
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Description
Long-tailed ducks are small, slender sea ducks with rounded heads and small bills. Males have long tail plumes most of the year. These ducks measure 40 to 47 cm in length, weigh 650 – 1,100 g and have 71 to 72 cm wingspan.
In winter, males are mainly white and black. Their head is white with a large dark patch on their neck. The body and breast are dark, with white plumes covering their back. Male bills are primarily black with a pink band. On the other hand, females and young males have a brown color with a brown crown, white face, cheek patch and a dark bill.
Habitat
Main habitats include large lakes, oceans and tundra pools in summer. For the breeding season, long-tailed ducks prefer the low-lying tundra and hilly areas and barren ground so long as there is a source of water nearby.
Diet
Diet comprises of insects, mollusks and crustaceans. The diet is mainly mollusks at sea, including clams, periwinkles, mussels and crustaceans, e.g., isopods and amphipods. In summer, long-tailed ducks feed on aquatic insects, fish eggs, crustaceans, mollusks and some plant materials, including pondweeds and grasses. Long-tailed ducks forage by swimming and diving underwater with their wings partly open. They rely on their feet to propel themselves forward.
Nesting
Courtship displays begin in early winter, but pairs are formed in early spring. Male exhibitions include shaking their heads back and forth, tossing their heads with their bill pointed up while calling and raising their long tails high in the air.
The nest site is mainly on dry ground close to a water source. To protect the young, the nest site is hidden under low growth or among rocks. The nest is a small depression lined with plant material and down. Females lay 5 to 11 olive buff to olive-grey eggs. Females incubate the eggs for 24 to 29 days. The young leave the nest shortly after hatching. Females tend to the young, but they feed themselves. The first flight is after 35 to 40 days.
