The red-breasted merganser 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.
Image: Mergus serrator New Jersey USA winter 8
Image: Red breasted merganser female in CP (40744)
Juvenile, Florida
Egg, Collection Museum Wiesbaden
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.
Mergus
Image: MA I156484 Te Papa Mergus australis
Image: Mergus merganser merganser (male)
Image: Mergus serrator New Jersey USA winter 8