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Red-breasted Merganser

Red-breasted Merganser

Mergus serrator

Identify the Red-breasted Merganser by sound or photo and log your sightings with Birdpass.

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The Red-breasted Merganser is a slim, fast-flying diving duck of the temperate to subarctic Northern Hemisphere, with a shaggy crest and a thin, serrated red bill. It breeds on lakes, rivers and coastal islands and winters mostly on coastal waters, making it the most marine of the sawbills. Breeding males have a rusty, streaked breast.

Did you know?

  • Its name serrator means “sawyer”, after the saw-like edges of its bill.
  • It is among the fastest-flying ducks.

Voice

Flight call

About the species

Identification

A shaggy rear crest and a long, narrow red bill. Male: dark green head, white collar, rusty, spotted breast, black back and grey flanks. Female: rusty-brown head and grey body, with a diffuse border between head and neck. In flight the white wing patch is crossed by two narrow dark bars in the male and one in the female – a good mark compared with Goosander.

Family

Anatidae

Size

Large (crow)

Colours

black, white, grey, brown

About the habitat

Breeds by clear lakes, rivers and on vegetated islands and shores of archipelagos; winters in coastal bays, estuaries and sheltered seas.

Diet

Mainly small fish, as well as crustaceans, aquatic insects, worms and amphibians. Ducklings start on aquatic invertebrates.

Behaviour

Dives from the surface and chases fish underwater with strong kicks, alone or in loose groups that may herd fish together. It flies fast and low over the water. Courtship involves synchronised neck-stretching and bowing displays by the males. It nests on the ground near water, well hidden in vegetation and lined with down.

Sources

Photo: Needsmoreritalin, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Red-breasted Merganser male (Mergus serrator), Barnegat Inlet, New Jersey, USA.jpg

Sound: Jonathon Jongsma, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mergus_serrator_-_Red-breasted_Merganser_XC139389.ogg

Text: Wikipedia (English) + GBIF regional observations + Wikipedia (English) + FinBIF species descriptions, CC BY-SA 4.0; GBIF occurrence data; Wikipedia: CC BY-SA 4.0; FinBIF: CC BY 4.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-breasted_merganser

See also