HARLEQUIN DUCK 

 (Histrionicus hlstrlonicus) 



[DA: Stromand, DU: Harleki jneend , EN: Harlequin-Duck, FI: Virta-alli, FR: Gar- 

 rot arlequin, Canard harlequin; GE: Kragenente, IC: Straumond, IT: Moretta ar- 

 lecchino, JA: Shinorigamo, NW: Harlekinand, PO: Kaczka wzorzysta, Kamieniuszka ; 

 RU: (Stone Duck), SP: Pato arlequin, SW: Stromand] 



GENERAL DISTRIBUTION 



The Harlequin Duck breeds in two disjunct areas in North America. The 

 eastern breeding range extends from the Ungava Bay area south along the coast 

 of Labrador to the northern Gulf of St. Lawrence (AOU 1957, Bellrose 1976, Pal- 

 mer 1976b). The breeding range in the west is much larger, extending from the 

 Aleutian Islands and St. Lawrence Island to central Alaska, south through the 

 Yukon Territory, British Columbia, the Olympic and Cascade mountains in Washing- 

 ton, and the Cascade and Wallowa mountains in Oregon to the western slopes of 

 the Sierra Nevada in California and the northern Rocky Mountains of Montana, 

 Idaho, and northern Wyoming (AOU 1957, Palmer 1976b). In the winter these ducks 

 are found in the coastal portions of their breeding ranges along the Pacific as 

 far south as coastal central California. The eastern birds winter from south- 

 ern Labrador, Newfoundland, and Nova Scotia south along the Atlantic coast to 

 Massachusetts, rarely to Long Island Sound, and casually to the Niagara River, 

 Lake Erie, and Lake Ontario (AOU 1957). There are also reports of accidentals 

 occurring farther south during winter. 



Harlequin Ducks also breed in northern and eastern Asia from Lake Baikal 

 and the Lena River, Siberia, east to northern Kamchatka and the Komandorskiye 

 Islands, and south to northern Mongolia, Manchuria, and the Kurile Islands. In 

 the winter they occur from Kamchatka, Manchuria, and the Aleutian and Pribilof 

 islands south to Korea and southern Japan (AOU 1957). Harlequins also breed in 

 Greenland and Iceland, often wintering along the southern coasts of both islands 

 (AOU 1957). 



The Harlequin Duck is a species of accidental occurrence in the southeast- 

 ern United States. There were no records for North Carolina before 1961, but 

 six records accumulated by 1967 (Parnell 1965, Carter 1968) and our studies show 

 that there were five additional records by 1977. There are two early records 

 for South Carolina (Sprunt and Chamberlain 1949) and three more recent records, 

 1975-77. Early records from Florida, primarily from the panhandle, are summa- 

 rized by Williams (1968); six recent reports, 1971-77, from the Atlantic coast 

 have come to our attention. There are three records for Alabama, only one of 

 which is from the coast (Imhof 1976b); one very old record for Louisiana (Lowery 

 1974); and three sight records for coastal Texas (Oberholser 1974). 



SUSCEPTIBILITY TO OIL POLLUTION 



We have found no published accounts of oiled Harlequin Ducks , but the spe- 



335 



