Long-tailed Duck (Clangula hyemalis)

• HABITAT - Long-tailed Ducks, commonly known in North America as oldsquaw, is a medium-sized sea duck. Long-tailed Ducks breed on arctic tundra, often near freshwater wetlands. They spend the winter along ocean coasts and on large freshwater lakes. They can often be found far offshore, especially at night, and will often congregate in areas with extensive sea ice, using floe edges and large openings in the ice.
• DIET - Long-tailed Ducks consists mostly of invertebrates. On the tundra breeding grounds, they eat aquatic insects, tiny crustaceans such as fairy shrimp, fish eggs, and some plant matter. During the winter, in ocean waters and large lakes, the dine on crustaceans, mussels, small fish which the catch by making deep dives
• FACTS - The Great Lakes is a winter area for Long-tailed Ducks. In late winter and early spring, we can hear the male's mating call from way out in the lake. It is a very distinct and loud "ow-owoohlee".