{"id":77850,"date":"2021-01-16T07:40:08","date_gmt":"2021-01-16T14:40:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=77850"},"modified":"2025-05-24T05:46:40","modified_gmt":"2025-05-24T10:46:40","slug":"winter-common-mergansers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/01\/16\/winter-common-mergansers\/","title":{"rendered":"Winter Common Mergansers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yesterday and the day before I was able to observe and photograph winter Common Mergansers at my local pond on both sunny afternoons.<\/p>\n

\"AdultAdult hen and drake Common Mergansers in winter \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I don’t usually see these colorful diving ducks in northern Utah during the breeding season and have to travel north to find them on their breeding grounds.\u00a0 When I see them in the winter I am always happy to have them in my viewfinder.<\/p>\n

Because of a question I was asked yesterday afternoon I thought that I would share some images of adult males, females, and first winter Common Mergansers.<\/p>\n

Winter Common Merganser Males<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"DrakeDrake Common Merganser in winter \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Common Merganser males during the winter are unmistakable in their breeding or Definitive Basic Plumage. Their long, sleek bodies with black and white plumage combined with their dark heads that can have a dark green sheen plus their thin, red serrated bills makes them stand out on any body of water. It would be hard to miss them.<\/p>\n

\"MaleMale Common Merganser drinking water \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I’m seeing quite a few drake Common Mergansers on my local pond right now. I enjoy having them in my viewfinder as they search for food, preen, rest and take a drink of the cold water.<\/p>\n

Common Merganser drakes might be confused with drake Red-breasted Mergansers but once you look closely at them both it becomes easier to identify which is which.<\/p>\n

Winter Common Merganser Females<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"AdultAdult Common Merganser female in winter \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1600, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Adult female Common Mergansers have the same long, sleek bodies that the males have.\u00a0 Their coloration is different. They have gray bodies, rich rusty or russet brown heads with shaggy crests and a well defined white patch on their chins.<\/p>\n

\"AdultAdult female Common Merganser drinking water \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Underneath of the rust color of their necks adult female Common Mergansers are grayish white to white that blends into the gray of their bodies.<\/p>\n

Adult female Common Mergansers can be mistaken for Red-breasted Mergansers<\/span><\/a>. Eye color along with differences in plumage, crests, bill size and color can help with identification<\/span><\/a> between those two similar species.<\/p>\n

First Winter Common Mergansers<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"SwimmingSwimming first winter Common Merganser \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1600, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

During the winter here in northern Utah I also see and photograph immature Common Mergansers. These young birds hatched last year and are going through their first winter. First winter Common Mergansers look similar to the adult females. They have mostly gray bodies and rusty brown heads like the females do. Their crests are not quite as shaggy as the crests of adult females.<\/p>\n

In flight or on the water the first impression might be “adult female” Common Merganser.<\/p>\n

\"FirstFirst winter Common Merganser close up \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/800, ISO 320, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The question I was asked yesterday was how I know the difference between adult females and first winter birds.<\/p>\n

There is one difference that keys me in when I am viewing a first winter Common Merganser.<\/p>\n

\"TwoTwo white patches – First winter Common Merganser \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/800, ISO 320, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

First winter Common Mergansers have two white patches on their faces. One large patch on their chin with a streak of russet above it then a thinner, smaller white patch in front of their eyes. Adult female Common Mergansers and adult males in nonbreeding plumage have only one white patch on their chins.<\/p>\n

This time of year that double patch of white can vary but it can usually be seen.<\/p>\n

Sexing first winter Common Mergansers is a topic I may cover another time on another day but this post has gotten long enough as it is.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of\u00a0 my Common Merganser photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yesterday and the day before I was able to observe and photograph winter Common Mergansers at my local pond on both sunny afternoons.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":146584,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_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":[27,476,709,26],"tags":[4004,4053,4142,976,4642,4753,4483,4464,1129,126,4070,2450,4359,4067,4705,4704,4239,1984,3973,1283,30,3996,10877,373,4193],"class_list":["post-77850","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-common-mergansers","category-salt-lake-county-utah","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-breeding-plumage","tag-close-up","tag-common-merganser","tag-definitive-basic-plumage","tag-diving-ducks","tag-drake","tag-drinking","tag-duck","tag-ducks-2","tag-female","tag-first-winter","tag-hen","tag-immature","tag-merganser","tag-mergansers","tag-mergus-merganser","tag-pond","tag-salt-lake-county","tag-swimming","tag-utah-2","tag-water","tag-white-patches","tag-winter","tag-young"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/common-merganser-adult-female-drinking-mia-mcpherson-7908.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-kfE","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":50520,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/01\/06\/drake-common-merganser-in-flight-in-northern-utah\/","url_meta":{"origin":77850,"position":0},"title":"Drake Common Merganser In Flight In Northern Utah","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 6, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"One of the drake Common Mergansers I saw yesterday flew over the pond and past me close enough for me to take two photos of it up close in the late evening light.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Drake Common Merganser in flight in evening light, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/common-merganser-drake-flight-mia-mcpherson-1851.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-drake-flight-mia-mcpherson-1851.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Today I am sharing photos of a dapper drake Common Merganser in his finest breeding plumage that I took four mornings ago at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Bathing Common Merganser drake, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/common-merganser-winter-ice-drake-mia-mcpherson-3751.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/common-merganser-winter-ice-drake-mia-mcpherson-3751.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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