{"id":2122,"date":"2011-03-20T09:45:31","date_gmt":"2011-03-20T16:45:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=2122"},"modified":"2025-05-24T06:46:59","modified_gmt":"2025-05-24T11:46:59","slug":"common-and-red-breasted-mergansers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2011\/03\/20\/common-and-red-breasted-mergansers\/","title":{"rendered":"Common and Red-breasted Mergansers"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Red-breastedClose up of a Red-breasted Merganser\u00a0in Florida – Nikon D200, handheld, f7.1, 1\/320, ISO 200, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Mergansers are considered “diving ducks” and one of the things the three species of mergansers found\u00a0in North America all have in common are their serrated bills. They all eat fish and their serrated bills must make it easier for them to grab on and hold fish after catching them.<\/p>\n

The close up image of the nonbreeding, male\u00a0Red-breasted Merganser (Mergus serrator<\/em>) above shows the serrated bill. A nick name for these diving ducks is “Saw-bill” and I can certainly understand why.<\/p>\n

Two species of mergansers\u00a0that can be confused when making ID are the Common and Red-breasted Mergansers. Both are larger than\u00a0Hooded Mergansers with\u00a0Common Mergansers being slightly larger than\u00a0Red-breasted Mergansers.<\/p>\n

\"AdultFirst winter male Common Merganser\u00a0in Utah – Nikon D200, f7.1, ISO 500, -0.7 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The Common Merganser (Mergus merganser<\/em>) in the image above has a rustier colored head and crest than the Red-breasted Mergansers do in nonbreeding plumage, they have a deeper bill which often appears to be redder than the bill of the red-breasted. Common Mergansers have dark eyes and in nonbreeding plumage both sexes show a crescent shaped white patch on the chin.<\/p>\n

\"AdultAdult female nonbreeding Red-breasted Merganser in Utah – Nikon D200, f6.3, 1\/320, ISO 400, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light <\/span><\/p>\n

The crests on Red-breasted Mergansers (Mergus serrator<\/em>) always appear more wispy than the crests on Common Mergansers. The bill has a more orange cast to it than the bills of the Common Mergansers and it is also thin and more slender. Both sexes of the Red-breasted Merganser have red colored eyes.<\/p>\n

Breeding grounds for both the Common and Red-breasted species overlap in some areas though Red-breasted Mergansers nest on the ground and Common Mergansers are cavity nesters who infrequently nest on the ground.\u00a0Red-breasted Mergansers have the most northerly range extending into the Arctic Circle and they also winter further south than the other two merganser species found in North America. Common Mergansers being a very hardy species will stay further north as long as the water remains open for them to fish.<\/p>\n

Watching either the Common or Red-breasted Mergansers fish is a real treat\u00a0which is exciting to view and photograph. Soon\u00a0I should be seeing the males and females in eclipse or breeding plumage coming through where I live in Utah. I can’t wait to photograph them!<\/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. Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Common Merganser photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mergansers are considered “diving ducks” and one of the things the three species of mergansers found in North America all have in common are their serrated bills.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":146614,"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":[163,476,1022,697,25,704,2000,133,26],"tags":[5552,215,976,4916,10846,4753,1129,126,5505,4705,4704,4239,277,140,4752,3996],"class_list":["post-2122","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bird-identification","category-common-mergansers","category-davis-county-utah","category-farmington-bay-wma","category-florida","category-fort-de-soto-county-park","category-pinellas-county-florida","category-red-breasted-mergansers","category-utah","tag-bill","tag-bird-id","tag-common-merganser","tag-crest","tag-crests","tag-diving-ducks","tag-duck","tag-ducks-2","tag-eye-color","tag-merganser","tag-mergansers","tag-mergus-merganser","tag-mergus-serrator","tag-red-breasted-merganser","tag-serrated-bill","tag-water"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/common-merganser-mia-mcpherson-9392.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-ye","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":41965,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/09\/14\/red-breasted-merganser-floating-on-the-gulf-of-mexico\/","url_meta":{"origin":2122,"position":0},"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":"Red-breasted Merganser lifting off, 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-lift-off-mia-mcpherson-2944.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-lift-off-mia-mcpherson-2944.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/red-breasted-merganser-lift-off-mia-mcpherson-2944.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/red-breasted-merganser-lift-off-mia-mcpherson-2944.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Near the auto tour route though I saw what appeared to be 250 to 300 Red-breasted Mergansers on the Bear River. I think it was the largest raft of Red-breasted Mergansers I have ever seen.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Red-breasted Merganser and snowy reflections, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/red-breasted-merganser-utah-mia-mcpherson-6498.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-utah-mia-mcpherson-6498.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/red-breasted-merganser-utah-mia-mcpherson-6498.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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2014","format":false,"excerpt":"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.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Red-breasted Merganser diving into a wave on the Gulf Coast, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/red-breasted-merganser-wave-mia-mcpherson-8561.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/red-breasted-merganser-wave-mia-mcpherson-8561.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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