young remain on the streams until August or early September. This chronology is influenced by 

 elevation and the timing of spring runoff and may vary up to several weeks between years. 



The U.S. Forest Service, Region 1, lists the Harlequin Duck as Sensitive (Reel at al. 

 1989). The species is listed as a Species of Special Concern by the Montana (Genter 1992) and 

 Idaho (Moseley and Groves 1990) Natural Heritage Programs. The eastern North American 

 population is listed as endangered in Canada (Goudie 1993); both eastern and western populations 

 are listed under Category 2 as a candidate for listing under the Endangered Species Act by the 

 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (U.S. Department of Interior 1991). 



The Montana Natural Heritage Program began surveying Harlequin Ducks in 1988. The 

 survey data gave rise to questions involving site fidelity, productivity and mortality. Individual 

 marking of birds began to a limited extent in 1991 and in 1992 a total of 85 Harlequins were 

 marked on 5 streams. Long term goals include: 1) developing a baseline status report of current 

 and historic Harlequin populations in Montana; 2) gathering information on site fidelity, 

 reproduction and mortality to allow estimations of what constitutes viable Harlequin populations; 

 3) developing surveying protocols for actual and potential Harlequin streams; 4) developing 

 management guidelines for maintaining and restoring Harlequin populations and habitat; and 

 5) identify coastal areas where Harlequins fi^om the Northern Rockies occur. Goals for 1993 

 included: 1) surveying additional streams for presence and status of Harlequins; 2) gathering 

 productivity data on some primary Harlequin streams; and 3) marking as many individuals as 

 possible on selected streams for long-term monitoring. 



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