Long Tailed

Long Tailed Duck 

(Anasplatyrhynchos)

Photographed at Lake Ontario, Toronto, ON   Mar 2009

Formerly known as Oldsquaw the Long-tailed Duck breeds in the Arctic and winters along both coasts of North America. These birds here were in Lake Ontario in early March and seemed very happy playing and feeding. It is distinctive among ducks in plumage, loose feathers molt sequences, foraging behaviour, and vocalizations.

The Long-tailed Duck is one of the deepest diving ducks, and can dive as deep as 60 meters (200 feet) to forage.

Of all diving ducks, the Long-tailed Duck spends the most time under water relative to time on the surface. When it is foraging it is submerged three to four times as much as it is on top of the water.

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