{"id":14480,"date":"2014-03-01T06:37:52","date_gmt":"2014-03-01T13:37:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=14480"},"modified":"2025-03-04T09:14:23","modified_gmt":"2025-03-04T15:14:23","slug":"feeding-habits-of-red-breasted-mergansers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/03\/01\/feeding-habits-of-red-breasted-mergansers\/","title":{"rendered":"Feeding Habits of Red-breasted Mergansers"},"content":{"rendered":"

According to Birds of North America<\/span><\/a> there are four foraging methods used by Red-breasted Mergansers which are\u00a0Cooperative Herding, Individual Search, Shallow Diving and Deep Diving.<\/p>\n

\"Red-breastedRed-breasted Mergansers foraging with their heads submerged\u00a0– Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1\/500, ISO 160, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Even though there is a pair of birds in the image above they are using the Individual Search method which involves swimming continuously with the head submerged while searching for prey.<\/p>\n

These two birds were in a shallow tidal lagoon at the north beach of Fort De Soto County Park<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Red-breastedRed-breasted Merganser diving into a wave\u00a0– Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1\/750, ISO 200, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

This Red-breasted Merganser was photographed as it foraged in the Gulf of Mexico also using the Individual Search method but seemed to be caught unawares when a rather large wave came up to the bird.<\/p>\n

Not the best image as far as getting eye contact from my subject but I can see the eye and I am fairly certain the bird could see me too.<\/p>\n

\"Red-breastedRed-breasted Merganser in the waves of the Gulf – Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1\/800, ISO 160, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 310mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

In my observations of Red-breasted Mergansers foraging I noticed that they foraged for long periods of time and their activity level was high.<\/p>\n

I also noticed that they would often take a small break while foraging to briefly look around. Perhaps that was to make sure there were no predators in the area.<\/p>\n

\"Red-breastedRed-breasted Merganser taking a break\u00a0– Nikon D200, handheld, f7.1, 1\/350, ISO 200, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 360mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

After a lengthy period of foraging I also noticed that Red-breasted Mergansers would climb out of the water to rest.<\/p>\n

I photographed this resting Red-breasted Merganser on the shoreline of the Gulf of Mexico at Fort De Soto’s north beach. I was able to belly crawl up to the merganser without disturbing it.<\/p>\n

One other foraging behavior I saw and do not see mentioned at BNA is that Red-breasted Mergansers would follow\u00a0Reddish Egrets who were actively foraging and then would capture prey that the egrets scattered towards them.<\/p>\n

The Reddish Egrets paid the Red-breasted Mergansers very little attention if any at all but the mergansers seemed to benefit from the feeding activity of the egrets.<\/p>\n

In a way it is a form of Cooperative Herding but the mergansers are using the Reddish Egret to do the herding.<\/p>\n

Soon I should be seeing Red-breasted Mergansers here in Utah and I hope that I will see and photograph more of their foraging behaviors.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Red-breasted Merganser photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

According to Birds of North America there are four foraging methods used by Red-breasted Mergansers which are Cooperative Herding, Individual Search, Shallow Diving and Deep Diving.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":141173,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,25,704,2000,133],"tags":[5132,2479,4753,4040,4136,173,4077,2478,4705,4704,277,4246,140,2477,2063,5424,373],"class_list":["post-14480","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-florida","category-fort-de-soto-county-park","category-pinellas-county-florida","category-red-breasted-mergansers","tag-coastal","tag-cooperative-herding","tag-diving-ducks","tag-feeding","tag-foraging","tag-gulf-coast","tag-gulf-of-mexico","tag-individual-search","tag-merganser","tag-mergansers","tag-mergus-serrator","tag-nonbreeding-plumage","tag-red-breasted-merganser","tag-submerged-head","tag-waterfowl","tag-wave","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/red-breasted-merganser-wave-mia-mcpherson-8561.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-3Ly","jetpack_sharing_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":14822,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/04\/24\/red-breasted-merganser-at-rest-on-the-gulf-shore\/","url_meta":{"origin":14480,"position":0},"title":"Red-breasted Merganser At Rest On The Gulf Shore","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 24, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"I've mentioned in another post that \"Some Days are Magic\" and I felt that magic the morning I created this image of a Red-breasted Merganser.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Red-breasted Merganser at rest on the Gulf shore, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/red-breasted-merganser-resting-waves-mia-mcpherson-9790.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/red-breasted-merganser-resting-waves-mia-mcpherson-9790.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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nonbreeding Common Merganser in Utah, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County,","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/common-merganser-mia-mcpherson-9392.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/common-merganser-mia-mcpherson-9392.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/common-merganser-mia-mcpherson-9392.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/common-merganser-mia-mcpherson-9392.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":41965,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/09\/14\/red-breasted-merganser-floating-on-the-gulf-of-mexico\/","url_meta":{"origin":14480,"position":2},"title":"Red-breasted Merganser Floating On The Gulf of Mexico","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 14, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I photographed this Red-breasted Merganser floating on the Gulf of Mexico on an April morning from the shoreline at Fort De Soto, Florida in April of 2008.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Red-breasted Merganser high on a wave off of the Gulf Coast, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/red-breasted-merganser-gulf-mia-mcpherson-5387.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/red-breasted-merganser-gulf-mia-mcpherson-5387.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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"Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Drake Red-breasted Merganser in breeding plumage, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/red-breasted-merganser-male-breeding-mia-mcpherson-1094.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/red-breasted-merganser-male-breeding-mia-mcpherson-1094.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/red-breasted-merganser-male-breeding-mia-mcpherson-1094.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/red-breasted-merganser-male-breeding-mia-mcpherson-1094.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/common-merganser-preening-mia-mcpherson-6662.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/common-merganser-preening-mia-mcpherson-6662.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/common-merganser-preening-mia-mcpherson-6662.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/common-merganser-preening-mia-mcpherson-6662.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":14033,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/01\/30\/red-breasted-merganser-on-the-gulf-of-mexico\/","url_meta":{"origin":14480,"position":5},"title":"Red-breasted Merganser On The Gulf Of Mexico","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 30, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Sometimes I find an image appealing because of the memories it wakes up and not so much from the technical or compositional aspects, this Red-breasted Merganser image is one that isn't perfect but it does awaken memories and stirs my senses.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Red-breasted Merganser drake in eclipse plumage on the Gulf of Mexico, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/red-breasted-merganser-florida-mia-mcpherson-5952.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/red-breasted-merganser-florida-mia-mcpherson-5952.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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