Long-tailed
Duck (Clangula hyemalis)
The
Long-tailed Duck C. hyemalis is a
circumpolar marine species that breeds mainly in the Arctic tundra and winters
further south, often far out at sea. It is estimated that only around 3,500
birds winter in Britain; most of these are thought to breed in Fennoscandia or
northwest Russia and Sussex is on the southern edge of their wintering range.
During 1992-2009, wintering numbers in the Baltic Sea, which held 70% of the
world population, declined by an alarming 65% for unknown reasons.
In
Sussex it is a very scarce passage migrant and winter visitor and a rare
non-breeder in summer. The above image, of a spring plumaged female, was recently taken
in Lancashire.
References:
Cowser,
R., 2014. Long-tailed Duck. The Birds of Sussex. Thetford: British Trust
for Ornithology (BTO) Books on behalf of the Sussex Ornithological Society, p. 125.
Wilson,
T.J. 1996. Long-tailed Duck. Birds of Sussex. Sussex Ornithological
Society, pp. 175-176.
