{"id":7393,"date":"2013-02-04T05:36:32","date_gmt":"2013-02-04T12:36:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=7393"},"modified":"2025-02-06T04:35:15","modified_gmt":"2025-02-06T10:35:15","slug":"different-plumages-phases-of-red-breasted-merganser-drakes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/02\/04\/different-plumages-phases-of-red-breasted-merganser-drakes\/","title":{"rendered":"Different Plumage Phases Of Red-breasted Merganser Drakes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Awhile back someone told me (in a comment on this blog<\/em>) that mergansers don’t change their plumage seasonally which is incorrect as all three species of mergansers that live in North America do.<\/p>\n

\"DrakeDrake Red-breasted Merganser in breeding plumage<\/span><\/p>\n

The image above shows a Red-breasted Merganser drake in breeding plumage. I took this image at a pond very close to where I live in Salt Lake County, Utah.<\/p>\n

Note the very dark head plus the striking black and white patterns on the back of the merganser and evidence of the red breast this species gets part of its name from. Don’t you just love the shaggy, punk rock do these birds have?<\/p>\n

\"MaleMale Red-breasted Mergansers in eclipse plumage<\/span><\/p>\n

All three of the birds in the image above are male Red-breasted Mergansers in eclipse plumage and look remarkably different than the male in breeding plumage shown above. Or maybe these mergansers are just females that got a really bad deal on smoky eye shadow at Walgreen’s.<\/p>\n

Seriously, they are males in eclipse plumage photographed at Fort De Soto’s north beach in Florida<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

It pays to have great bird guide books. I have plenty on a shelf right above my computer monitor and keep one in the vehicle with me too. I also have two bird guide apps on my smart phone so I can use them anywhere I am without the weight of a book. Not only can the guides help with a bird’s identification they can also help us distinguish the various plumage phases of birds or if they change seasonally.<\/p>\n

At any rate, I’d say that these images of Red-breasted Merganser drakes show there is a seasonal change in their plumage.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

Awhile back someone told me that Mergansers don’t change their plumage seasonally, which is of course incorrect as all three species of mergansers that live in North America do.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":139345,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_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":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27,25,704,2000,133,709,26],"tags":[4004,215,4053,4753,4483,1129,126,2113,4062,4705,4704,277,140,2112],"class_list":["post-7393","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","category-salt-lake-county-utah","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-bird-id","tag-breeding-plumage","tag-diving-ducks","tag-drake","tag-duck","tag-ducks-2","tag-eclipse-plumage","tag-male","tag-merganser","tag-mergansers","tag-mergus-serrator","tag-red-breasted-merganser","tag-seasonal-plumage-changes"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/red-breasted-merganser-male-breeding-mia-mcpherson-1094.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-1Vf","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":61891,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/12\/06\/common-mergansers-whats-in-a-name\/","url_meta":{"origin":7393,"position":0},"title":"Common Mergansers – What’s In A Name?","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 6, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Sometimes I wonder how birds get their names, especially the birds with \"Common\" in their names such as Common Mergansers.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Preening Common Merganser, Salt Lake County, 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, 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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":77850,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/01\/16\/winter-common-mergansers\/","url_meta":{"origin":7393,"position":2},"title":"Winter Common Mergansers","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 16, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday and the day before I was able to observe and photograph winter Common Mergansers at my local pond on both sunny afternoons.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult female Common Merganser drinking water, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/common-merganser-adult-female-drinking-mia-mcpherson-7908.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-adult-female-drinking-mia-mcpherson-7908.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/common-merganser-adult-female-drinking-mia-mcpherson-7908.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/red-breasted-merganser-male-mia-mcpherson-3652.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/red-breasted-merganser-male-mia-mcpherson-3652.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/red-breasted-merganser-male-mia-mcpherson-3652.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/red-breasted-merganser-male-mia-mcpherson-3652.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":7393,"position":4},"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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