Long-tailed Duck

Red list

Clangula hyemalis

A small, buoyant Arctic sea duck with a needle tail and an astonishing musical voice.

Sea duck · 13,000 breeding pairs (UK)

Measurements

In most ducks the male (drake) and female (hen) look quite different. Study both to identify any bird.

Photos: Olga Filatova · CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Crustaceans, molluscs and small fish, caught on deep dives of up to 60 metres.

Sea duck (dives in coastal waters) Small (teal-sized, under 45 cm)

Coastal waters, especially off Scotland and the east coast in winter.

Nests on the Arctic tundra, not in the UK.

Winters around the northern UK coast after crossing from the Arctic.

The male’s yodelling "a-ow a-ow a-ow-aal-ow" is one of the most remarkable sounds in nature.

Compare with close relatives.

Somateria mollissima

The UK’s largest and heaviest duck, a hardy sea duck famous for the insulating down that lines its nest.

Melanitta nigra

A dark sea duck that winters in long, low, fast-flying strings far offshore.

Melanitta fusca

A large, dark sea duck with a bright wing flash, rarer and bigger than its common cousin.