Harlequin Ducks are colorful sea ducks that winter on the coast and breed on fast-moving mountain streams, but little is known about the timing and movement between breeding, molting and wintering areas. Join Kristina Smucker who will describe an international Harlequin Duck research project. In 2016 Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks and Glacier National Park joined this project to study habitat use, migration and connectivity of Harlequin Ducks using satellite transmitters and geolocators.  This talk will answer questions like – What makes a Harlequin Duck so special?  How do you catch a duck? Where do “our” Montana Harlequins spend the winter?

Kristina Smucker is a Wildlife Biologist for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, Great Falls, where she works to conserve nongame species, including birds, bats, reptiles, amphibians and small mammals.  Prior to that she worked for the Avian Science Center at the University of Montana for 10 years where she directed bird research and monitoring programs.  She obtained her MS in Wildlife Biology from the University of Montana and her BA in Biology from Earlham College in Indiana where she took Ornithology and fell in love with birds during spring migration.