thumb|Breeding male, Norway

The long-tailed duck (Clangula hyemalis) is a medium-sized sea duck that breeds in the tundra and taiga regions of the arctic and winters along the northern coastlines of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. It is the only member of the genus Clangula.

Taxonomy

The long-tailed duck was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae. He placed it with all the other ducks in the genus Anas and coined the binomial name Anas hyemalis. Linnaeus cited the English naturalist George Edwards's description and illustration of the "Long-tailed duck from Hudson's-Bay" that had been published in 1750 in the third volume of his A Natural History of Uncommon Birds.

This duck is now the only species placed in the genus Clangula; the genus was introduced in 1819 by the English zoologist William Leach to accommodate the long-tailed duck, in an appendix on species to John Ross's account of his voyage to look for the Northwest Passage. The genus name Clangula is a diminutive of the Latin , meaning "to resound". The specific epithet hyemalis, also Latin, means "of winter". The species is considered to be monotypic – no subspecies are recognised. The AOU stated that "political correctness" alone was not sufficient to justify changing a long-standing name, but in this case decided to make the change because doing so would "conform with English usage in other parts of the world". south-southerly, and old wife.

An undescribed congener is known from the Middle Miocene Sajóvölgyi Formation (Late Badenian, 13–12 Mya) of Mátraszőlős, Hungary.

Food and feeding

The long-tailed duck is gregarious, forming large flocks in winter and during migration. They feed by diving for mollusks, crustaceans and some small fish. Although they usually feed close to the surface, they are capable of diving to depths of . According to the Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds they can dive to . They use their wings, like velvet scoters, to dive, which gives them the ability to dive much deeper than other ducks.

Status

The long-tailed duck is still hunted across a large part of its range. There has been a significant decline in the number of birds wintering in the Baltic Sea, partly due to their susceptibility to being trapped in gillnets. For these reasons the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has categorised the long-tailed duck as vulnerable.

Notes

References

  • Feathers of Long-tailed Duck (Clangula hyemalis)