A couple of diving ducks arrived at my dock Thursday, and had me
stumped as to what they were.
After seeing their very narrow bills, and watching them pick up a half-dozen crayfish from the bottom in just a few minutes, the name "merganser" came to mind. No bird book at hand listed the colors on these particular birds; fortunately, there are only three possible Merganser species to choose from—worldwide.
It turns out they were
juvenile Hooded Mergansers, which have a yellow lower bill, white undersides, and a "crew cut" appearance of their normally long tufts of head and neck feathers.
They are extremely fast flyers, smaller, and not as shy as our usual Common Merganser—but are still wary. The yellow bill is the only clue as to their age: the adults have all-black bills.
This is the appearance of the juvenile Hooded Mergansers that appeared Thursday:
The
adult female is similar to the above; however, this is how the male appears in April, as they skirt the edges of Lake Winnipesaukee near Ice-Out, usually with their mate:
They appear at Florida lakes too. Except for the rare sighting (here and there), they only appear during their migration travels.
Pretty cool, huh?
