Puget Sound's rocky shores are home to one of the world's most spectacular ducks: the Harlequin. The male Harlequin is boldly patterned with purple, chestnut, black and white. Although this may seem a flashy costume, it provides good camouflage while the duck swims in foaming surf. Harlequin Ducks dive where waves break on rocks. The nail at the end of their strong bill pries loose shellfish such as limpets. Harlequins also eat snails and mussels and capture small crabs and shrimp.

In spring, instead of migrating north to breed, these ducks fly inland to mountain whitewater streams and rivers from the Cascades to the Rockies. There they dive among rapids catching aquatic insects and finding fish eggs. The female Harlequin, dull-colored to hide in shoreline vegetation, lays her eggs and raises the young along tributary streams. At summer's end, they rejoin the males at the coast, bobbing in the waves and resting on offshore rocks.

Next time you're along a rocky Puget Sound shore, watch for this beautiful bird that splits its life between mountains and sea.