The adult harlequin male is quite distinct and can not 

 readily be confused with other species. An adult male wood duck 

 (Aix sponsa ) has similar colors but different markinqs and body 

 shape, most notably a crescent shaped head. The female 

 harlequin, on the other hand, can be confused with other female 

 ducks primarily the buf f lehead (Bucephala albeola) . 

 Distinquishinq features to note between the two are that the 

 female harlequin has 3 white patches on each side of her head 

 while the buff lehead only has one. In fliqht, a harlequin shows 

 no white on the winq, where as the female buff lehead has 

 prominent white patches on the secondaries. 



Distribution 



Two separate populations of harlequin ducks exist: a Pacific 

 coast population and a smaller Atlantic coast population. The 

 Atlantic breedinq population occurs primarily in Labrador, 

 Iceland and Greenland. The Pacific population extends from 

 central California to northern Alaska and inland to the east 

 front of the Rockies and south into northwest Wyominq (Bellrose 

 1980) . 



In Montana, breedinq harlequins are known to occur on the 

 Kootenai Rivar, lower Clark Fork, and Flathead River drainaqes; 

 streams in Glacier and Yellowstone National Parks; and streams on 

 the east front of the Rocky Mountains (Kuchel 1977, Kerr 1989, 

 Miller 1988 and 1989, MTNHP unpublished survey reports). Larqe 

 concentrations of breedinq harlequins occur on McDonald Creek in 



