Hooded Merganser

Description: The smallest merganser, the drake is a striking bird, with a double-crested black fan-shaped head with a large white patch, a black back with white stripes, and chestnut sides. The chest is white with a large black bar and a white belly. The bill is black, while the legs and feet are a dull yellow. The hen has a reddish-brown crest, a white belly, brownish-gray sides, and a darker back. It has a dingy yellow bill with yellowish-gray legs and feet. Drakes and hens both have white edges on their wings and thinner, shorter bills than other mergansers. Drakes are slightly larger than hens. Average size: 16-19 inches. Average weight: 1 ¼ -2 pounds.

Science: Hooded mergansers breed in southwestern Canada, much of eastern Canada, the northwestern United States, and most of the eastern United States. A very large concentration is found in the Great Lakes area. They like slow-moving rivers, small ponds, and lakes in wooded areas. Their migration begins fairly late in October, wintering on both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the United States and Canada and in the southeastern United States. While they use similar areas in the winter and summer, they also can also be found on coastal bays and estuaries in the winter. They feed near shore and eat mostly crustaceans, frogs, aquatic insects, and small fish, although they generally eat less fish than other mergansers. Hooded mergansers are usually quiet. The population is stable.

Hunting: Hooded mergansers are mostly taken incidentally by hunters seeking other waterfowl, though they are occasionally sought by hunters as a collector’s trophy. The eating quality is poor, due to their diet.