Scientific Classification
- Common Name
- hooded merganser
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Anseriformes
- Family
- Anatidae
- Subfamily
- Mergini
- Genus Species
- Lophodytes cucullatus
Fast Facts
- Description
- Both males and females of this species have large erectile crests resembling a hood and long tails for great maneuverability in flight. Males have eclipse plumage, which turns black, brown, and white during breeding season, and the male eye markings are yellow. Females have brown eyes and are brownish in color.
- Size
- Approximately 42 to 50 cm (16.8 to 20 in.) in length; wingspan 56 to 70 cm (22.4 to 28 in.)
- Weight
- Males weigh around 680 g (23.8 oz.) and females around 540 g (18.9 oz.).
- Diet
- Feeds primarily on fish; diet also includes frogs, tadpoles, crustaceans, and small mollusks
- Incubation
- 32 days; breeding takes place March through May
- Clutch Size
- 911 eggs
- Fledging Duration
- 71 days
- Sexual Maturity
- Approximately 2 years
- Life Span
- 11 to 12 years
- Range
- This species has an extremely large range and can be found in Anguilla, Antigua, and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Canada, Cuba, Dominica, Guadeloupe, Haiti, Martinique, Mexico, Montserrat, Puerto Rico, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent, and the Grenadines, Turks and Caicos Islands, and the United States.
- Habitat
- Found in freshwater sloughs, streams, ponds, and swamps
- Population
- The population size is very large and appears to be increasing. The population is not severely fragmented.
- Status
- IUCN: Least Concern
CITES: Not listed
USFWS: Not listed
Fun Facts
Males are called drakes, females are hens, and young are ducklings.
Hooded mergansers can fly at speeds approaching 80 kph (50 mph).
These birds are able to catch fish by direct underwater pursuit, remaining submerged for up to 2 minutes. They resurface to swallow their prey, turning it around so it is swallowed headfirst. This method avoids injury from the spiny fins of some types of fish.
Some refer to hooded mergansers as frog ducks because of the long guttural call that can be heard a half mile away.
Ducklings in the water may gather together in a tight compact group resembling a swimming muskrat. This instinctive behavior may deceive aerial predators like sharp-shinned hawks.
Hens frequently select nesting cavities as high as 23 m (75 ft) above ground.
Ecology and Conservation
Hooded mergansers help maintain fish and amphibian populations.
Though not listed as endangered, the future for this species may not be optimistic. Forest destruction and stream water pollution has reduced their breeding grounds. In some areas, fish farmers and anglers hunt hooded mergansers because they feel these ducks destroy the fish populations in those areas.
Bibliography
Austin, G. Birds of the World. New York. Golden Press, Inc., 1961.
Gotch, A.F. Birds - Their Latin Names Explained. UK. Blandford Books Ltd., 1981.
Johnsgard, P. Ducks, Geese, and Swans of the World. Lincoln. Univ. Of Neb. Press, 1978.
Palmer, R.S. (ed.). Handbook of North American Birds. Vol. 4. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1988.
Scott, P. A Coloured Key of the Wildfowl of the World. Slimbridge, England. The Wildfowl Trust. 1988.
Todd, F.S. Natural History of Waterfowl. San Diego, Ca. Ibis Publishing Co., 1996.
animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/lophodytes/l._cucullatus$narrative.htm
BirdLife International. 2016. Lophodytes cucullatus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T22680472A92863561. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22680472A92863561.en. Downloaded on 16 January 2019.
