Females will actively seek out cavities in dead trees or artificial nest boxes such as those provided for nesting wood ducks. During the nonbreeding season the male looks similar to the female, except that his eyes are yellow and the female's eyes are brown. The hooded merganser is a diving predator that largely hunts by sight while under water. [7], For preference the hooded merganser lives on small bodies of water such as ponds and small estuaries where there is ample emergent aquatic vegetation, but it also inhabits larger wetlands, impoundments, flooded timber, and rivers. [12] In addition these ducks do make use of artificial nest boxes when available. Along with Wood Ducks and other cavity-nesting ducks, Hooded Mergansers often lay their eggs in other females’ nests. Small duck; feeds by diving to catch mainly fish with thin, serrated bill. Although the hooded merganser is a common species in captivity in Europe and most specimens recorded in the wild are regarded as escapes, a small number of birds have been regarded as genuinely wild vagrants. (2009). [9] Small numbers are seen regularly in Dublin, but these are presumed to be escapes. Females and immature males are brown overall with a puffy crest and a thin orange stripe along the bottom of the bill. The hooded merganser has a sawbill but is not classified as a typical merganser. It is the only extant species in the genus Lophodytes. This is called “brood parasitism” and is similar to the practice of Brown-headed Cowbirds, except that the ducks only lay eggs in nests of their own species. Hooded Mergansers will take to nest boxes or barrels, either on the ground or raised. The female Hooded Merganser has a grey-brown body and ginger "hair". A smaller year-round range extends from Washington state and southern British Columbia to northern Idaho. During incubation, the female may lose anywhere from 8% to 16% of her body weight. The hooded merganser was one of the many bird species originally described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae, where it was given the binomial name Mergus cucullatus.[3]. His lower flanks are a rich reddish-brown or chestnut in colour, and the breast and undersides are more or less white, extending into white stripes across the crop and breast. [2] 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 is a sexually dimorphic species. Young: within 24 hours after hatching, young leave nest; female calls to them from below, young climb to cavity entrance and jump to ground. In breeding plumage the dorsal areas and the head, neck and breast of the mature male are mainly black with white markings; there are large white patches on either side of the crest, and they are particularly conspicuous when he raises his crest during courtship. Breeding males have showy black and white crest, a couple zebra stripes on their white breast, and chestnut sides. Hooded mergansers are the second smallest species of merganser, with only the smew of Europe and Asia being smaller, and it also is the only merganser whose native habitat is restricted to North America. Females of all ages are dark-eyed, whereas in males the eyes become pale during their first winter.[5]. 8–12 white eggs are incubated for 32 to 33 days by the female alone. The black head has a large white patch that varies in size when the crest is raised or lowered, but is always prominent. Hooded mergansers are short-distance migrants, and they winter in the United States in regions where winter temperatures allow for ice-free conditions on ponds, lakes and rivers. Her eye is reddish brown and bill edged with yellow. One priority consideration when managing wooded habitat for cavity nesting ducks, is to maintain a sufficient population of mature trees in which suitable nesting cavities would be plentiful. Dugger and L. H. Fredrickson. © Noah Frade | Macaulay Library It has been suggested that in recent years proper timber management is increasing available habitat successfully. She has a light reddish-brown crest extending from the back of the head. Males and females of the hooded merganser form monogamous pairs and they remain together until the female has selected a nesting cavity and completed laying her clutch. Britain's current first accepted record is a bird which was seen on North Uist in October 2000. Females often lay eggs in each others' nests, also in nests of Wood Ducks and others. ", "Waterfowl of North America: Name Derivations", "Hooded Merganser Fact Sheet, Lincoln Park Zoo", "Hooded Merganser Identification, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology", http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Hooded_Merganser/id, http://www.birdweb.org/birdweb/bird/hooded_merganser, http://bna.birds.cornell.edu.prox.lib.ncsu.edu/bna/species/098, http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Lophodytes_cucullatus/, https://seaduckjv.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/home_sppfactsheet.pdf, Champoux L. PCBs, dioxins and furans in Hooded Merganser (, Massachusetts Breeding Bird Atlas - Hooded merganser, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hooded_merganser&oldid=990047892, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 22 November 2020, at 14:17. The hooded merganser is a sexually dimorphic species. The ideal size for the entrance hole is 8cm. In both sexes there are narrow white stripes along the tertial wing feathers; when the bird is in repose they have the appearance of longitudinal white stripes along the bird's lower back, if they are visible. "A comparison of wooden boxes and plastic buckets as waterfowl nest structures. Sometimes they will nest some distance from the water, but generally they really like boxes over the water. Hooded Merganser on North Uist: a return to the British List, Dugger, B.D., K.M. Adult male Hooded Mergansers are black above, with a white breast and rich chestnut flanks. The adult female has a greyish-brown body, with a narrow white patch over the lower breast and belly. The hooded merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus) is a species of merganser. They compete with Wood Ducks for nest boxes put out by humans, and females of both species may lay eggs in the same nest, with one or the other incubating the eggs. [12][14][15], Rabbitss, Brian (2009). The female will lay a clutch of 7-15 eggs but only begins incubation when the last egg has been laid, thereby permitting synchronous hatching. They prefer fresh water but do occur on brackish water bodies as well.[8]. Incubation is by female only, 26-41 days, usually about 33 days. Like most waterfowl, hooded merganser hatchlings are precocial and usually leave the nest within 24 hours after they hatch; this is about long enough to accommodate synchronous hatching. After that, the male leaves the female to incubate and care for the brood. One is in the eastern United States from the southern Canada–US border along the Atlantic Coast to the Gulf Coast in the region of the Mississippi delta. Most studies report that its diet varies according to circumstances, usually being dominated by fishes (44-81%). The genus name derives from the Greek language: lophos meaning 'crest', and dutes meaning 'diver'. In addition it feeds on aquatic insects (13-20% of its diet) and other aquatic invertebrates such as crabs and crayfish (22-50%).[10].

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