In On the Move, our regular column about migration, we present pairs of distribution maps from eBird that you can use to compare where interesting birds are at different times of year. We featured Harlequin Duck pictured above, in our December 2016 issue.
Harlequin Duck
During the breeding season (left map), Harlequin Duck is the master of its domain, ably navigating fast-flowing mountain rivers throughout its breeding range, from Alaska south to Washington, in the northern Rockies of Idaho and Montana, and also in northern Quebec and southwestern Greenland.
During the nonbreeding season, ducks occur singly or in small groups of a few birds up to tens of individuals. Wintering individuals occur along the Pacific and Atlantic coasts of North America, from southern Alaska to central California and from Newfoundland to the Mid-Atlantic states. Important wintering concentrations occur along the coast of British Columbia, at Vancouver Island, Canada, and in Puget Sound, Washington. Small numbers also inhabit the Great Lakes, where they should be looked for near rocky jetties and piers.
See eBird’s real-time distribution map for Harlequin Duck.
Read about Sachuest Point National Wildlife Refuge, Rhode Island’s Harlequin hotspot.
A version of this article appeared in “Birding Briefs” in the December 2016 issue of BirdWatching.
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