Harlequin Duck

Histrionicus histrionicus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Harlequin Duck, Histrionicus histrionicus, breeds in North America and the Palearctic, including north-eastern Siberia, Chukotka, Kamchatka, Sakhalin, the Kuril Islands, Hokkaido, northern Honshu, the Aleutians, Alaska, western Canada, the Pacific Northwest, the northern Rocky Mountain states, north-eastern Canada, southern Greenland and Iceland. Outside the breeding season it moves to the west-central and east-central North Pacific and the west-central North Atlantic coasts. It is a small sea duck, and its name comes from the Harlequin figure of Italian theatre. Other names include painted duck, rock duck, glacier duck and white-eyed diver.

Order

Anseriformes

Family

Anatidae — Ducks, Geese, Swans

Breeding range

North America, Palearctic: ne Siberia, Chukotka, Kamchatka, and Sakhalin pens., Kuril Is., Hokkaido and n Honshu (c Japan); Aleutian Is., Alaska, w Canada, Pacific Northwest and n Rocky Mt. states; ne Canada, s Greenland and Iceland

Nonbreeding range

to wc, ec North Pacific and wc North Atlantic coasts