Hooded Merganser Profile

by Dawn Currie

Title

Hooded Merganser Profile

Artist

Dawn Currie

Medium

Photograph - Digital

Description

Photographic artwork by Dawn Currie. Male Hooded Merganser photographed at Ritch Grissom Memorial Wetlands, Viera, Florida.

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Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus): These stunning little ducks have bold, extravagant crests. Adult males have a sharp black and white patterns set off by chestnut flanks. Females have an elegant cinnamon crest. The fluffy crest hangs down the back of the neck when not raised.

These ducks are fairly common on small ponds and rivers, where they dive for fish, crayfish, and other food, seizing it in their thin, serrated bills. Hooded Mergansers find their prey underwater by sight. They can actually change the refractive properties of their eyes to improve their underwater vision. In addition, they have an extra eyelid, called a 'nictitating membrane,' which is transparent and helps protect the eye during swimming, like a pair of goggles.

The Hooded Merganser is the second-smallest of the six living species of mergansers (only the Smew of Eurasia is smaller) and is the only one restricted to North America.

My favorite location for observing Hooded Mergansers is the Ritch Grissom Memorial Wetlands in Viera Florida. They are among the hundreds of migrating birds that call these wetlands home for the winter months.

Uploaded

February 1st, 2014

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