Hooded Merganser

Hooded Merganser, male, breeding plumage, crest raised, Iroquois NWR, NY

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Hooded Merganser, male, crest lowered, Iroquois NWR, NY

Hooded Merganser, female, Iroquois NWR , NY, May

Hooded Merganser, female, Iroquois NWR, NY

Hooded Merganser, male, non-breeding plumage

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1. Cool Facts
2. Description
3. Similar Species
4. Sound
5. Range
6. Habitat
7. Food
8. Behavior
9. Reproduction
10. Conservation Status
11. Other Names

A small fish-eating duck of wooded ponds, the Hooded Merganser nests in holes in trees. It is frequently seen on shallow waters where its only waterfowl companion is the Wood Duck.

Cool Facts

• The Hooded Merganser is the second-smallest of the six living species of mergansers (only the Smew of Eurasia is smaller) and is the only one restricted to North America.

• Although up to 44 Common Merganser eggs have been found in one nest, one female probably does not lay more than about 13. Larger clutches result when more than one female lays eggs in a nest.

• The Hooded Merganser finds its prey underwater by sight. The merganser can actually change the refractive properties of its eyes to enhance its underwater vision. In addition, the nictating membrane (third eyelid) is very transparent and probably acts to protect the eye during swimming, just like a pair of goggles.

Description

• Size: 40-49 cm (16-19 in)
• Wingspan: 60-66 cm (24-26 in)
• Weight: 453-879 g (15.99-31.03 ounces)

• Small to medium-sized duck.
• Long, narrow bill.
• Fluffy, fan-shaped crest.
• Male with large white patch in crest.

• Small white patch at base of wings visible in flight.
• Long, somewhat pointed tail.

Sex Differences

Male boldly patterned with black and white crest, female smaller and grayish brown with shorter crest.

Male

Breeding (Alternate) Plumage: Circular crest with large white patch, outlined in black. Face black. Eyes gold. Back black. Sides rusty. Chest white, bordered by black and white stripes. Bill dark with yellow base.
Nonbreeding (Basic) Plumage: Back, sides, and breast grayish brown. Belly white. Crest dusky, not brown like female's. Eyes yellow. Bill black.

Female

Body brownish. Head brownish with bushy rufous crest. Small white patch on chin. Breast and neck slaty. Tail brownish. Wings blackish brown. Small white patch at base of wings. Eyes brownish buff. Upper mandible blackish green with orange edge, lower mandible orange or yellowish.

Immature

Immature resembles adult female. First-year male similar to female, but crest dull brown with a white patch, some black feathers on head and sides, bill dark, and eyes yellow.

Similar Species

• Bufflehead male in breeding plumage is more white overall, lacks buffy sides, and has a larger white patch that wraps around the back of its greenish head. Female and nonbreeding male Buffleheads have distinctive oval white cheek patches.
• Female Wood Duck has sleek crest white inverted comma around the eye.
• Other female mergansers have thinner crests and red on their bills.

Sound

Silent except in courtship when male gives a deep rolling frog-like sound. Wings produce a loud whistling in flight.

Range

Range Map

© 2003 Cornell Lab of Ornithology

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Summer Range

Breeds from central British Columbia southward to coastal Oregon and western Montana. Also from eastern Saskatchewan and eastern Dakotas eastward to Atlantic Coast northward to Nova Scotia, southward to Louisiana and northern Florida.

Winter Range

Winters from southeastern Alaska to southern California, and Arizona. Also from southeastern Minnesota, southern Ontario, and central Maine southward to Gulf Coast and Florida.

Habitat

• Breeds in forested wetlands.
• In migration and in winter found in wider range of open waters, along coasts, and in shallower waters than other mergansers.

Food

Fish, aquatic insects, and crustaceans (especially crayfish).

Behavior

Foraging

Dives underwater to catch prey.

Reproduction

Nest Type

Nest in tree cavity or nest box, lined with downy feathers from chest of female.

Egg Description

White

Clutch Size

Condition at Hatching

Covered with down, eyes open. Leave nest within one day after hatching.

Conservation Status

Populations appear stable.

Other Names

Harle Couronné (French)
Serreta capuchona (Spanish)

Sources used to construct this page:

Dugger, B. D., K. M. Dugger, and L. H. Fredrickson. 1994. Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus). In The Birds of North America, No. 98 (A. Poole, and F. Gill, eds.). The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA, and The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C.