Long-tailed Duck
Long-tailed Duck has risen sharply: up 57% on the route-weighted index since 1987.
About the Long-tailed Duck
The Long-tailed Duck (Clangula hyemalis) is a North American member of the Ducks, Geese & Waterfowl (Anatidae). In this analysis it is grouped with the waterfowl.
- Size
- 12–43.5 in long (30–110 cm) — a medium to large waterfowl (typical for the family)
- Habitat
- Lakes, ponds, rivers, marshes and sheltered coastal waters.
- Diet
- Aquatic plants, seeds and invertebrates, dabbled at the surface or dived for.
- Range
- Recorded on 19 Breeding Bird Survey routes across 1 state, most concentrated in the BCR 4.
- Family
- Anatidae · Waterfowl
Notable Long-tailed Duck Trends
No notable trend signals for Long-tailed Duck. See the full index history below.
Long-tailed Duck Population Forecast
If the recent trend holds, Long-tailed Duck is projected to stay roughly flat through 2029, near 0.01 (95% range 0.00–0.03). A 5-year backtest shows a typical error of ±64.1%, with 60% of held-out values landing inside the 95% band.
| Year | Projected index | 95% low | 95% high |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 0.01 | 0.00 | 0.03 |
| 2026 | 0.01 | 0.00 | 0.03 |
| 2027 | 0.01 | 0.00 | 0.03 |
| 2028 | 0.01 | 0.00 | 0.03 |
| 2029 | 0.01 | 0.00 | 0.03 |
Where the Long-tailed Duck Is Detected
BBS routes recording Long-tailed Duck, sized by most recent count.
Long-tailed Duck Population Trend by State
| Alaska | -17% | 1987 | 19 |
Long-tailed Duck Population Trend by Region
Bird Conservation Regions are the ecological unit for trends.
| BCR 2 | -93% | 1994 | 6 |
| BCR 3 | 12× | 1995 | 4 |
| BCR 4 | -87% | 1987 | 7 |
Long-tailed Duck Conservation Status
Our route-weighted index shows it up about 57% since 1987.
Source: USGS North American Breeding Bird Survey, retrieved 2026-05-22. Trend is a route-weighted relative-abundance index, not an absolute population.