Red-breasted merganser

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Red-breasted merganser
Temporal range: Pleistocene–present
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Mergus serrator -New Jersey -USA -winter-8.jpg
Male in winter at New Jersey, United States
Red-breasted merganser female in CP (40744).jpg
Female, New York, United States
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Anseriformes
Family: Anatidae
Genus: Mergus
Species:
M. serrator
Binomial name
Mergus serrator
MergusSerratorIUCN2018 2.png
Red-breasted merganser range
  Breeding
  Resident
  Non-breeding
  Passage
Synonyms
  • Merganser serrator(Linnaeus, 1758)

The red-breasted merganser (Mergus serrator) is a duck species that is native to much of the Northern Hemisphere. The red breast that gives the species its common name is only displayed by males in breeding plumage. Individuals fly rapidly, and feed by diving from the surface to pursue aquatic animals underwater, using serrated bills to capture slippery fish. They migrate each year from breeding sites on lakes and rivers to their mostly coastal wintering areas, making them the only species in the genus Mergus to frequent saltwater. They form flocks outside of breeding season that are usually small but can reach 100 individuals. The worldwide population of this species is stable, though it is threatened in some areas by habitat loss and other factors.

Contents

Taxonomy

The red-breasted merganser was formally described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the current binomial name Mergus serrator. [2] [3] The genus name Mergus is a Latin word used by Pliny and other Roman authors to refer to an unspecified water bird. The specific epithet serrator is Latin for sawyer and is ultimately from serra, meaning saw. It refers to the saw-like projections on the bird's bill, which enable it to hold on to slippery fish, its most frequent prey. [4] The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised. [5]

Description

The adult red-breasted merganser is 51–64 cm (20–25 in) long, has a wingspan of 66–74 cm (26–29 in), and weighs 800–1,350 g (28–48 oz). [6]

It has a spiky crest and long thin red bill with serrated edges. The male has a dark head with a green sheen, a white neck with a rusty breast, a black back, and white underparts. Adult females have a rusty head and a grayish body. Juveniles look similar to females, but lack the white collar and have smaller white wing patches.

The range of the red-breasted merganser broadly overlaps with that of the similar and closely related common merganser. The two species can therefore occur in the same place at the same time, though the species often choose different habitats (only the red-breasted frequents saltwater). Breeding male plumages are fairly distinctive, but other plumages such as those born by females, immatures, and non-breeding males can make the two species hard to distinguish. The common merganser displays more contrast between the darker head and lighter breast and has a light chin patch not seen on the red-breasted. [7]

Voice

During courtship, the female gives a rasping prrak prrak, while the male gives a catlike meow. In flight, the female makes a harsh gruk. At other times this species is largely silent. [8]

Behaviour

Food and feeding

Red-breasted mergansers dive and swim underwater. They mainly eat small fish, but also consume aquatic insects, worms, crustaceans, and amphibians. [9]

Breeding

Its breeding habitat is freshwater lakes and rivers across northern North America, Greenland, Europe, and the Palearctic. It nests in sheltered locations on the ground near water. It is migratory and many northern breeders winter in coastal waters further south. Outside of the breeding season, it forms flocks that can reach 100 individuals, though these flocks are smaller during spring migration than they are in autumn migration and in winter. [10]

Speed record

The fastest duck ever recorded was a red-breasted merganser that attained a top airspeed of 100 mph (160 km/h) while being pursued by an airplane. This eclipsed the previous speed record held by a canvasback clocked at 72 mph (116 km/h). [11]

Conservation

The red-breasted merganser is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies. The species is also considered a game bird under the Migratory Bird Treaty between the United States and Canada. [12] This means that the species gets some protection, though hunting it is legal in North America in certain seasons and places determined by local hunting regulations. However, few hunters are interested in the species and relatively few birds are harvested. [9]

The species is widespread and common enough to be categorized as least concern by the IUCN, though populations in some areas may be declining. Threats include habitat loss through wetland destruction, exposure to toxins such as pesticides and lead, and becoming bycatch of commercial fishing operations. [9] Anglers and fish farmers have also persecuted the species, which they regard as a competitor, though the impact of this on the species' population is not known. [10]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mergini</span> Tribe of birds

The sea ducks (Mergini) are a tribe of the duck subfamily of birds, the Anatinae. The taxonomy of this group is incomplete. Some authorities separate the group as a subfamily, while others remove some genera. Most species within the group spend their winters near coastal waters. Many species have developed specialized salt glands to allow them to tolerate salt water, but these are poorly developed in juveniles. Some of the species prefer riverine habitats. All but two of the 22 species in this group live in far northern latitudes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern pintail</span> Migratory duck that breeds in northern Eurasia and North America

The pintail or northern pintail is a duck species with wide geographic distribution that breeds in the northern areas of Europe and across the Palearctic and North America. It is migratory and winters south of its breeding range to the equator. Unusually for a bird with such a large range, it has no geographical subspecies if the possibly conspecific duck Eaton's pintail is considered to be a separate species.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern shoveler</span> Species of bird

The northern shoveler, known simply in Britain as the shoveler, is a common and widespread duck. It breeds in northern areas of Europe and across the Palearctic and across most of North America, wintering in southern Europe, the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, Central America, the Caribbean, and northern South America. It is a rare vagrant to Australia. In North America, it breeds along the southern edge of Hudson Bay and west of this body of water, and as far south as the Great Lakes west to Colorado, Nevada, and Oregon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gadwall</span> Species of bird

The gadwall is a common and widespread dabbling duck in the family Anatidae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eurasian wigeon</span> Species of bird

The Eurasian wigeon or European wigeon, also known as the widgeon or the wigeon, is one of three species of wigeon in the dabbling duck genus Mareca. It is common and widespread within its Palearctic range.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Garganey</span> Species of bird

The garganey is a small dabbling duck. It breeds in much of Europe and across the Palearctic, but is strictly migratory, with the entire population moving to Africa, India, Bangladesh and Australasia during the winter of the Northern hemisphere, where large flocks can occur. This species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. Like other small ducks such as the Eurasian teal, this species rises easily from the water with a fast twisting wader-like flight.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wood duck</span> Species of bird

The wood duck or Carolina duck is a partially migratory species of perching duck found in North America. The male is one of the most colorful North American waterfowls.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Long-tailed duck</span> Species of bird

The long-tailed duck or coween, formerly known as the oldsquaw, is a medium-sized sea duck that breeds in the tundra and taiga regions of the arctic and winters along the northern coastlines of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. It is the only member of the genus Clangula.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hooded merganser</span> Species of bird

The hooded merganser is a species of fish-eating duck in the subfamily Anatinae. It is the only extant species in the genus Lophodytes. The genus name derives from the Greek language: lophos meaning 'crest', and dutes meaning 'diver'. The bird is striking in appearance; both sexes have crests that they can raise or lower, and the breeding plumage of the male is handsomely patterned and coloured. The hooded merganser has a sawbill but is not classified as a typical merganser.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Common merganser</span> Species of bird

The common merganser or goosander (Eurasian) is a large sea duck of rivers and lakes in forested areas of Europe, Asia, and North America. The common merganser eats mainly fish. It nests in holes in trees.

<i>Mergus</i> Genus of birds

Mergus is the genus of the typical mergansers fish-eating ducks in the subfamily Anatinae. The genus name is a Latin word used by Pliny the Elder and other Roman authors to refer to an unspecified waterbird.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harlequin duck</span> Species of bird

The harlequin duck is a small sea duck. It takes its name from Harlequin, a colourfully dressed character in Commedia dell'arte. The species name comes from the Latin word "histrio", meaning "actor". In North America it is also known as lords and ladies. Other names include painted duck, totem pole duck, rock duck, glacier duck, mountain duck, white-eyed diver, squeaker and blue streak.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bufflehead</span> Species of bird

The bufflehead is a small sea duck of the genus Bucephala, the goldeneyes. It breeds in Alaska and Canada and migrates in winter to southern North America. This species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae as Anas albeola.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dunlin</span> Species of bird

The dunlin is a small wader, formerly sometimes separated with the other "stints" in the genus Erolia. The English name is a dialect form of "dunling", first recorded in 1531–1532. It derives from dun, "dull brown", with the suffix -ling, meaning a person or thing with the given quality.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grey plover</span> Species of bird

The grey plover or black-bellied plover is a large plover breeding in Arctic regions. It is a long-distance migrant, with a nearly worldwide coastal distribution when not breeding.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pacific golden plover</span> Species of bird

The Pacific golden plover is a migratory shorebird that breeds during summer in Alaska and Siberia. During nonbreeding season, this medium-sized plover migrates widely across the Pacific.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scaly-sided merganser</span> Species of bird

The scaly-sided merganser or Chinese merganser is an endangered typical merganser. It lives in Manchuria and extreme Southeast Siberia, breeding in the north and wintering in the south.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Auckland Island merganser</span> Extinct species of bird

The Auckland Island merganser, also known as the New Zealand merganser, was a typical merganser that is now extinct.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Red-billed teal</span> Species of bird

The red-billed teal or red-billed duck is a dabbling duck which is an abundant resident breeder in southern and eastern Africa typically south of 10° S. This duck is not migratory, but will fly great distances to find suitable waters. It is highly gregarious outside the breeding season and forms large flocks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Zealand scaup</span> Species of bird

The New Zealand scaup, also known as the black teal or pāpango in Māori, is a diving duck species of the genus Aythya endemic to New Zealand. They weigh around 650 grams (23 oz) and measure around 40 centimetres (16 in), and have dark-coloured plumage. They are found throughout New Zealand in deep natural and man-made lakes and ponds.

References

  1. BirdLife International (2018). "Mergus serrator". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2018: e.T22680485A132053220. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22680485A132053220.en . Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  2. Linnaeus, Carl (1758). Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis (in Latin). Vol. 1 (10th ed.). Holmiae (Stockholm): Laurentii Salvii. p. 129.
  3. Mayr, Ernst; Cottrell, G. William, eds. (1979). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 1 (2nd ed.). Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 498.
  4. Jobling, James A (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. pp.  251, 354. ISBN   978-1-4081-2501-4.
  5. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (December 2023). "Screamers, ducks, geese & swans". IOC World Bird List Version 14.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 1 July 2024.
  6. "Red-breasted Merganser Identification, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology". www.allaboutbirds.org. Retrieved 2020-09-26.
  7. "Red-breasted Merganser: Similar Species Comparison". All About Birds. Cornell University. 2023. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
  8. "Mergus serrator: Sounds". All About Birds. Cornell University. 2023. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
  9. 1 2 3 Dewey, T. (2009). "Mergus serrator". Animal Diversity Web. Regents of the University of Michigan. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
  10. 1 2 "Species factsheet: Mergus serrator". BirdLife International Data Zone. BirdLife International. 2023. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
  11. "The Need for Speed". www.ducks.org. Ducks Unlimited. 7 May 2007. Archived from the original on 9 September 2015. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  12. "List of Birds Protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (2020)". US Fish and Wildlife Service. Retrieved 23 March 2023.