Identification Tips:
Length: 16 inches Wingspan: 33 inches
Large, sleek diving duck
Long, pointed bill with serrated edges
Thin, red bill seems evenly tapered throughout length
Shaggy crest obvious in both sexes
Red eye
White secondaries
Immature similar to adult female
Adult male:
Greenish-black head
White neck
Reddish breast with dark streaks, bordered on sides by black-and-white patch
Gray flanks, tail, rump and uppertail coverts
Black back
White belly
White secondary coverts
Alternate plumage worn from fall through early summer
Male in basic eclipse plumage like adult female
Adult female:
Red-brown head, paler on throat, but without well-defined chin
Red-brown head fades evenly to paler breast
Gray and white breast and belly
Gray-brown body plumage
Similar species: Adult male in alternate plumage is similar to male Common Merganser but has reddish breast and gray flanks. Female, immature and eclipse male distinguished from similarly-plumaged Common Mergansers by lack of sharply-defined chin and lack of sharp contrast between reddish head and white breast, and by darker gray plumage, spikier crest, and slimmer bill. In winter, Red-breasted Mergansers are more likely to be found in saltwater habitats than are Common Mergansers.
These birds winter most abundantly in coastal waters, including the Gulf of Mexico, and to a lesser extent, the Great Lakes.
Their flight, strong and direct, is usually low over the water. They are difficult to distinguish in flight from the common merganser. Voice: Seldom heard.
