Long-tailed Duck (Clangula hyemalis)

In North Carolina, Long-tailed Duck is locally common to fairly rare winter visitor or resident, depending upon where you are in the state, fairly rare in the mountains to locally common in the northern coastal plain, particularly Pamlico Sound. The winter of 2013-2014 was an unprecedented year for Long-tailed Duck sightings and numbers statewide!

	Long-tailed Duck (Clangula hyemalis) Roanoke Sound, Dare Co., NC 23 Feb 2014 Strikingly plumaged, male Long-tailed Ducks in winter retain their long tails and show wide pink patches on their bills.
	Long-tailed Duck (Clangula hyemalis) Roanoke Sound, Dare Co., NC 23 Feb 2014 Their former common name was "Oldsquaw," a name which many long-time birders find difficult to abandon but was changed to conform with European bird nomenclature.
	Long-tailed Duck (Clangula hyemalis) Roanoke Sound, Dare Co., NC 23 Feb 2014
	Long-tailed Duck (Clangula hyemalis) Roanoke Sound, Dare Co., NC 23 Feb 2014
	Long-tailed Duck (Clangula hyemalis) Roanoke Sound, Dare Co., NC 23 Feb 2014
	Long-tailed Duck (Clangula hyemalis) Roanoke Sound, Dare Co., NC 23 Feb 2014
	Long-tailed Duck (Clangula hyemalis) Roanoke Sound, Dare Co., NC 23 Feb 2014
	Long-tailed Duck (Clangula hyemalis) Roanoke Sound, Dare Co., NC 23 Feb 2014
	Long-tailed Duck (Clangula hyemalis) Roanoke Sound, Dare Co., NC 23 Feb 2014 Hey! Where did you go?
	Long-tailed Duck (Clangula hyemalis) Roanoke Sound, Dare Co., NC 23 Feb 2014 Oh nevermind. I see you now!
	Long-tailed Duck (Clangula hyemalis) Roanoke Sound, Dare Co., NC 23 Feb 2014 Long-tailed Ducks dive for food, feeding mostly on insects, crustaceans, clams, and other aquatic invertebrates. They are also reported to occasionally eat fish, roe, and aquatic vegetation.
	Long-tailed Duck (Clangula hyemalis) Roanoke Sound, Dare Co., NC 23 Feb 2014 Long-tailed Ducks can dive up to 200 feet, and they spend proportionately more time under water than at the surface compared to other ducks.
	Long-tailed Duck (Clangula hyemalis) Roanoke Sound, Dare Co., NC 23 Feb 2014
	Long-tailed Duck (Clangula hyemalis) Roanoke Sound, Dare Co., NC 23 Feb 2014
	Long-tailed Duck (Clangula hyemalis) Roanoke Sound, Dare Co., NC 23 Feb 2014

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Created on ... February 26, 2014 | jeffpippen9@gmail.com