Red-breasted Merganser

Red-breasted Merganser
Male in winter at New Jersey, USA
Female, Thun, Switzerland
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Anseriformes
Family: Anatidae
Subfamily: Merginae
Genus: Mergus
Species: M. serrator
Binomial name
Mergus serrator
Linnaeus, 1758
Red-breasted Merganser range
yellow=sumnmer; blue=winter; green=all year
Synonyms

Merganser serrator

The Red-breasted Merganser (Mergus serrator) is a diving duck.

Contents

Taxonomy

The Red-breasted Merganser was one of the many species originally described by Linnaeus in his 18th-century work, Systema Naturae.[2]

Description

The adult Red-breasted Merganser is 51–62 cm (20–24 in) long with a 70–86 cm (28–34 in) wingspan.[3] 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.

Behaviour

It has been claimed to be the fastest bird in level flight, reaching speeds of 161 km/h (100 mph),[4][5] but is disputed whether the White-throated Needletail is faster, reportedly flying at 170 km/h (105 mph).[6]

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.

Conservation

The Red-breasted Merganser is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.

References

  1. ^ BirdLife International (2008). Mergus serrator. In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 9 December 2010.
  2. ^ Linnaeus, Carl (1758) (in Latin). Systema naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I. Editio decima, reformata. Holmiae. (Laurentii Salvii). 
  3. ^ Jonsson, Lars (1992). Birds of Europe with North Africa and the MIddle East. Princeton University Press. p. 118. ISBN 0-691-03326-9. 
  4. ^ Amazing Bird Records
  5. ^ Table of various fastest flying things. Retrieved on 10 June 2009
  6. ^ The world's fastest birds Retrieved on 10 June 2009

External links