Long-tailed Ducks breed in the Arctic parts of Canada and Alaska, and only migrate to the coast of New Jersey in the winter. Thursday of this week, I saw several near Barnegat Lighthouse.
I could not photograph a male Long-tailed Duck swimming in the water, so here’s a photo of two males taken in 2016.
This past Thursday, there was a male that took off from the water as shown in the following flight shots.
These ducks are about half the size of Common Eiders, and their take off is shorter and quicker. Although there are no estimates of their current population, they are classified as Common Bird in Steep Decline as of 2014.
bluebrightly said:
They’re beautiful creatures….I saw a few near here recently, it made me very happy.
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Amy said:
Very cool photos of the duck in flight!
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Emma Cownie said:
Great photos!
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Tiny said:
Wonderful captures, Hien! I wish you and yours a happy and healthy 2019!
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neihtn2012 said:
Thank you Helen, and the same to you. Looking forward to reading more of your posts in 2019.
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ekurie said:
I wonder, is the tail used for balance? Or an attribute of beauty?
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neihtn2012 said:
I think it is the latter. Male Northern Pintails also have a long tail. And then there are Peacocks, OMG!
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quietsolopursuits said:
More wonderful images of a species that I see only occasionally, up close that is. It’s not uncommon in Michigan to see flocks of long tailed ducks that number in the thousands and stretch for what seems to be a mile or more, out over Lake Michigan and out of camera range. Only a few of them break away from the flocks to come closer to shore to feed and rest.
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neihtn2012 said:
Thousands of Long-tailed ducks! At allaboutbirds.org, they said these ducks are in steep decline!
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quietsolopursuits said:
They may be in steep decline overall, but all I can report is what I see, and I see that they form the largest flocks other than Canada geese here in west Michigan.
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