have been observed or reported but on which the breeding status is unknovra; these streams have 

 been surveyed 0-5 times each (Cassirer et al. 1 996.)- 



Using habitat characteristics, accessibihty, amount of human use, and nearby Harlequin 

 Duck occurrences, streams were identified that had the highest potential for Harlequin Duck 

 occurrence but for which no ducks had been observed; these included 3 1 in Montana (Appendix 

 B), 16 in Idaho, and 41 in Wyoming (Cassirer et al. 1996). 



Winter range. Winters in the Aleutian and Pribilof islands south on the west coast of 

 North America to Oregon, rarely to central California; southern Labrador, Newfoundland, Nova 

 Scotia, south to Maryland (but mostly north of Cape Cod); accidental in Hawaii and the Great 

 Lakes; much more abundant in the Aleutians than farther south in southwestern Canada and the 

 U.S. Pacific Northwest (Fig. 2). Most Harlequins marked in Montana have been reported form 

 wintering grounds off of British Columbia, with fewer reports from Washington and Oregon (see 

 MOVEMENT: Timing and routes of migration). 



OUTSIDE THE AMERICAS 



In the Palearctic, the Harlequin Duck breeds in Iceland and Greenland in the Atlantic Ocean, and 

 from the Lena River in Siberia east to Kamchatka and south to northern Mongolia, the Kurile 

 Islands, and nothem Japan in the Pacific Ocean; winters in Eurasia south from the pack ice to the 

 east coast of Korea and central Japan in the Pacific and on the Atlantic in the ice-free zones 

 around Iceland and Greenland (Philips 1925, Salomonsen 1950, Dement'ev and Galdkov 1967, 

 Portenko 1981, American Ornithologists Union 1983, Boertmann 1994) (Fig. 2). 



HISTORICAL CHANGES 



During the past 100 years, the range of the Harlequin Duck has undergone both large 

 ands small scale contractions. Historically, Harlequins bred in Colorado, probably as a small 

 isolated population, until at least 1883 (Parkes and Nelson 1976); currently, they do not breed in 

 the state. In Oregon, Harlequins historically bred in the Wallowa and probably Blue Mountains 

 of the northeastern part of the state (Gabrielson and Jewett 1940, Latta 1993). They are thought 

 to have historically bred much more widely in the North Atlantic region (Merriam 1883, Peters 

 and Burleigh 1951, Goudie 1989, 1993). 



On a smaller scale, heavy white-water rafting is believed to have been the primary factor 

 in the displacement and resulting extirpation of Harlequins on the Methow River in Washington 

 (Brady pers. comm. in Clarkson 1994). In Yoho National Park, Alberta, Harlequins regularly 

 bred in the vicinity of Lake Ohara until 1985; they have not since been seen (Hvmt and Clarkson 

 1993). This area now has heavy recreational use, building facilities, and a hiking trail encircling 

 the lake. 



Within the Rocky Mountains of Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming, few historic records 

 exist for either known current or extirpated Harlequin occurrences (Table 2). The scant existing 

 evidence indicates that Harlequin Ducks were once more widespread. In addition to the historic 

 Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming streams listed in Table 2, Harlequins have not been observed 

 during recent surveys of Big Creek, Quartz Creek, or Trout Creek, Montana, indicating possible 

 extirpation (Table 3). 



