Kragenente Thurgau

The harlequin duck (Histrionicus histrionicus) is one of the smaller sea ducks, reaching a body length of 38 to 45 centimetres. The drake in breeding plumage is unmistakable: a dark slate-blue body, chestnut-red flanks, a white crescent in front of the eye, a half-moon-shaped white patch behind the ear and a white band along the rear of the neck. Females are far more subdued, brownish-grey with three small white patches on the head. Unlike most other diving ducks, the harlequin duck does not nest on lakes but along fast, clear mountain streams, and it winters on rocky sea coasts.

The global distribution is patchily circumpolar and limited to North America, Greenland, Iceland and the far east of Russia. In Europe the species breeds only in Iceland, where Lake Myvatn is one of the best-known sites. On the European mainland, and therefore in the German-speaking region, the harlequin duck appears only as an extremely rare vagrant. Documented sightings in Central Europe can be counted on a few fingers, and in recent decades escapees from captivity have further complicated the assessment of records in the wild.

For hunters in Germany, Austria and Switzerland the harlequin duck is essentially a species that does not occur in everyday hunting practice. It is not listed as a quarry species under the German federal hunting law and, as a European wild bird, falls under the special species protection of the EU Birds Directive and the Federal Nature Conservation Act. It is therefore protected year-round. The IUCN considers the global population of more than 270,000 birds as Least Concern, though the eastern North American subpopulation is declining. Should a suspect bird ever appear on a coast or a clear-running river, careful identification must come first: confusion with the equally uncommon common scoter or with goldeneyes can only be avoided through calm observation and good optics.