Secretive nesting harlequins evade researchers

Glacier National Park's harlequins have always been different ducks. The male looks like it has a clown mask on - thus the name harlequin - and the female is drab and unassuming.

They're also different from other duck species in that they migrate from west to east. They winter on the Pacific Northwest coast and migrate in spring to mountain streams like Glacier Park's McDonald Creek.

The migration has gone on for eons, yet even after the Park was established, the Going-to-the-Sun Road was built and tourists arrived by the millions, no one had documented a nesting bird in Glacier Park.

The male harlequin may live a flashy life. The female, however, lives a very secretive one.

This year, a team of Park researchers, including lead biological technician Lisa Bate, master's student Warren Hansen, biologist Cindy Smith, former duck researcher John Ashley and volunteer veterinarian Dan Savage, were able to capture 30 of the Park's harlequins, fitting 12 females with special radio antennas. Smith has participated in harlequin studies in Canada.

The antennas pose no harm to the birds. Slightly embedded in the skin of their backs, they're designed to scab over and fall off within about six months.

Logistically, just getting the project off the ground was a challenge, Bate said in an interview last week. Researchers fought deep snow and high-water to set mist nets across stretches of McDonald Creek where they could safely catch the birds.

Part of the study's purpose is to find where the birds are nesting and what, if any, impact humans are having on them. The birds prefer upper McDonald Creek, which parallels the Going-to-the-Sun Road and sees thousands of visitors a year.

To date, Bate said, they have yet to find an incubating female. Females incubate the eggs for about 28 days. Once hatched, fledglings are largely precocial - capable of independent activities as soon as they hatch.

But while no nesting females have been confirmed, pairs of birds are definitely showing some interesting travel habits. Some birds spend their days on McDonald Creek and spend their nights on Lake McDonald - presumably for safety, Bate said.

Bate said Hansen and Savage once canoed out onto the lake at 3 a.m. to track the ducks and their signals. While they didn't get a visual on the birds, signals showed the ducks were floating in calm water not far from Lake McDonald Lodge.

The ducks went back to the creek to feed the next morning. Harlequin ducks feed primarily on aquatic insects and the small fish. They have an advantage over other duck species in that they're able to dive into deep strong currents to find food.

The male mates with the female, then migrates back west, leaving her to raise the brood. Broods are commonly seen in Glacier Park. Once they reach maturity, usually by mid-fall, they migrate back to the ocean with their mother.