An obvious name
hiding two changing mirror –
image plumages
Erdos 2023
Long-tailed Duck
Long-tailed Duck Overview, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology
ORDER: Anseriformes
FAMILY: Anatidae
Latin Name Clangula hyemalis
Long-tailed duck is a northern waterfowl recognized by its beautiful plumage and the male of this waterfowl species has a very long pointed tail. This hardy arctic duck can have a range of different coloured plumages throughout the year. These ducks are known for their constant calling among themselves, when they are gathered in flocks
The attractive Long-tailed Duck breeds in the high Arctic and spends winters mostly along ocean coasts. The stunning males have two mirror-image plumages: in summer mostly black with a white face patch; in winter mostly white with rich brown, black, and gray on the face. In all plumages they have extravagantly long, slender tail feathers. Females and immatures are smudgy brown and white, without the long tail.
These prodigious divers can feed as deep as 200 feet, swimming with their wings, catching invertebrates and small fish.
Of all the diving ducks, Long-tailed Ducks log the most time underwater. During foraging excursions, they spend 3 or 4 times as long underwater as on the surface.
The Long-tailed Duck has an unusual pattern and timing to molting its feathers. Technically, the feathers it wears in winter are its “breeding” plumage. In the spring it molts into what is technically the “nonbreeding” plumage, and it wears this all summer. Most ducks molt into nonbreeding plumage for only a brief period in late summer.