Kingdom Animalia Family Anatidae Genus Mergus Phylum Chordata Rank Species | Order Anseriformes Subfamily Merginae Scientific name Mergus serrator Higher classification Greater Mergansers | |
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Similar Greater Mergansers, Common merganser, Bird, Common goldeneye, Greater scaup | ||
Bto bird id goosander and red breasted merganser
The red-breasted merganser (Mergus serrator) is a diving duck, one of the sawbills. The genus name is a Latin word used by Pliny and other Roman authors to refer to an unspecified waterbird, and serrator is a sawyer from Latin serra, "saw".
Contents
- Bto bird id goosander and red breasted merganser
- Red breasted merganser courtship display
- Description
- Voice
- Food and feeding
- Breeding
- Speed record
- Conservation
- References
The red-breasted merganser was one of the many bird species originally described by Linnaeus in the landmark 1758 10th edition of his Systema Naturae, where it was given the binomial name of Mergus serrator.
Red breasted merganser courtship display
Description
The adult red-breasted merganser is 51–62 cm (20–24 in) long with a 70–86 cm (28–34 in) wingspan. 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 greyish body. The juvenile is like the female, but lacks the white collar and has a smaller white wing patch.
Voice
The call of the female is a rasping prrak prrak, while the male gives a feeble hiccup-and-sneeze display call.
Food and feeding
Red-breasted mergansers dive and swim underwater. They mainly eat small fish, but also aquatic insects, crustaceans, and frogs.
Breeding
Its breeding habitat is freshwater lakes and rivers across northern North America, Greenland, Europe, and Asia. It nests in sheltered locations on the ground near water. It is migratory and many northern breeders winter in coastal waters further south.
Speed record
The fastest duck ever recorded was a red-breasted merganser that attained a top airspeed of 100 mph while being pursued by an airplane. This eclipsed the previous speed record held by a canvasback clocked at 72 mph.
Conservation
The red-breasted merganser is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.