Red-breasted Merganser - BirdForum Opus

Breeding male
Photo © by Digiscoper321
West Sweden, January 2017

Mergus serrator

Identification

Female
Photo © by bobsofpa
Fort DeSoto Park, Florida, USA, February 2015

L. 52-58 cm (20½-22¾ in)
W. 67-82 cm Long, thin red bill with serrated edges
Adult Male

• Dark head with a green sheen
• White neck with
• Rusty breast
• Black back
• White underparts
  

Adult Female

• Rusty head
• Greyish body
  

Juvenile Like the female, but lacks the white collar and has a smaller white wing patch.

Distribution

Male
Photo © by the late Mahsleb
Mistley, Essex, February 2009

Northern Palearctic and northern North America; winters southern Palearctic and Mexico

Taxonomy

This is a monotypic species^[1].

Habitat

Freshwater lakes and rivers.

Behaviour

This is a diving duck.

Diet

The diet is mainly small fresh and salt water fish, aquatic crustaceans and invertebrates. Also insects, worms and frogs.

Vocalisation

The call of the female is prak prrak

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2017. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2017, with updates to August 2017. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Avianweb
3. Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved July 2018)

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Red-breasted Merganser. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 26 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Red-breasted_Merganser

External Links

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