Notes on the harlequin duck

On May 2, 1960, Jack S. Rothacher and John A. Booth of the PacificNorthwest Forest and Range Experiment Station, U. S. Forest Service,called my attention to a dead female harlequin duck (Histronicus histroni-cus). It had drifted ashore in a large pool in Blue River near Camp LuckyBoy, the old Boy Scout camp on the west slope of the Cascades in easternLane County, Oregon. The duck had been dead only a short time and de-composition was not yet apparent. No external evidence of the cause ofdeath was noted; however, internal examination revealed a very large bruiseon the anterior portion of the breast. Fifty feet upstream from where theduck was found, a %-inch cable stretches across Blue River about 20 feetabove the water. Although no direct evidence was secured, it seems likelythe duck may have killed herself by flying into the cable. Harlequin duckshave been observed flying at dusk when visibility is poor, so the accidentcould possibly have occurred at that time.
A fully formed egg was found intact in the oviduct of the bird; it isnow at the Oregon State University Natural History Museum. The ovaryhad ova in various stages of development — one was nearly ready to bedischarged. It seems logical to assume that the female was nesting in thevicinity of where she was found. Only three Oregon nesting records forharlequin ducks have been found in the literature. Jewett (1925 and 1931)reported a nest on Zig Zag River on the west slope of Mt. Hood, and abrood of downy young on the West Fork of the Wallowa River near FrazierLake in the Wallowa National Forest. Gabrielson and Jewett (1940) alsonoted a brood on the Imnaha River near where it is joined by Cliff River.
Soon after the dead female was found, two males and a female wereobserved flying over the pool at Camp Lucky Boy in the evening. The maleswere trying to outmaneuver one another for the favored position near thefemale. One can only conjecture, but it seems possible the extra male wasthe mate of the dead female.
Shortly after sunset, on May 8, male and female alighted in the CampLucky Boy pool. The birds were not very wary of people, for they swam towithin approximately 50 feet of where several fishermen were casting andwithin 40 feet of where I was standing. The male followed the female mostof the time. Both frequently dipped their bills and heads in the water andswam along for considerable distance with their eyes beneath the surface.Apparently, the lack of wariness towards humans is a common trait of harle-quin ducks. Michael and Michael (1922), Jewett et al. (1953) and LaFave(1955) reported instances of close approach and Jewett (1931) wrote of aboy picking up and handling a nesting female.
Blue River is a mountain stream with cold, clear water and manystretches of fast water alternating with small, relatively calm pools. NearCamp Lucky Boy the trees have been logged and the river is bordered withbrush and tree reproduction. The elevation is about 1,300 feet at the camp.
As nearly as can be determined, the western Oregon harlequin nest reportedby Jewett (1931) was at an elevation of approximately 1,900 feet. LaFave(1955) found a brood at about 1,400 feet elevation on the West Branchof the Little Spokane River and considered this to be about the lowestnesting elevation reported for eastern Washington.