Common Merganser
Encyclopedia : C : CO : COM : Common Merganser
The Common Merganser, (Goosander in Europe), Mergus merganser, is a large sea duck, which is distributed over Europe, North Asia and North America. Although belonging to the seaducks, It is most common on lakes and rivers. Its nests can be found in treeholes.
There are three subspecies
- M. m. merganser, the Goosander of Europe
- M. m. orientalis, Central Asian Common Merganser
- M. m. americanus, American Common Merganser
Males and females are easily distinguished, since the male merganser has a dark green head, while the head of the female is reddish-brown. The Common Merganser is 70 cm long with a 78-94 cm wingspan.
These large fish-eaters have serrated edges to their bills to help them grip their prey. Along with the Smew and the Hooded Merganser, they are therefore often known as "sawbills". They also eat mussels and shrimps; young birds mainly eat aquatic insects.
North American birds migrate south in small groups to the southern United States; on the west coast, some birds are permanent residents.
Scandinavian and Russian birds also migrate southwards, but western European birds are largely resident.
The Common Merganser is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.
References
- BirdLife International (2004). [Mergus merganser]. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.