Hooded Merganser

Lophodytes cucullatus

The hooded merganser is a saw-billed diving duck that varies in color and size depending on its sex:

Males are mostly black and have:

• A white, fan-like hood.
• A white breast with two black bars on either side.
• Rusty brown sides and flanks
• A white patch on the wings.

Females are dark gray to brown, resembling juvenile males, and have:

• A dark bill.
• A dusky brown head and chest.
• A cinnamon-colored hood.

In flight, all mergansers hold their bill, head, body and tail straight and horizontal. Hooded mergansers grow to about 13 to 19 inches with a wingspan of about 26 inches. Females are smaller in size than males.

Where does the hooded merganser live?

Hooded mergansers live in wooded freshwater lakes, ponds and swamps, as well as in clear, swift-moving streams and rivers. They are found in the Bay watershed mostly in spring and fall, but there are some local winter and summer residents.

What does the hooded merganser eat?

Hooded mergansers use their serrated bills to capture and feed on a wide variety of aquatic creatures, including frogs, insects, bay grasses and seeds, juvenile fish and tadpoles, and shellfish such as mud crabs.

• Hooded mergansers feed most actively during the day, submerging their head underwater to look for prey.
• Mergansers have an extremely muscular gizzard that allow them to digest the hard exoskeletons of some shellfish.

What does the hooded merganser sound like?

Hooded mergansers make low, croaking grunts.

Where does the hooded merganser nest and breed?

In the Bay watershed, hooded mergansers breed locally in parts of Maryland.

• Hooded mergansers nest in wooded areas such as forested ponds, wetlands and riverbanks.
• The female merganser lays five to 10 glossy white eggs, which hatch after about 33 days. If the female is disturbed while incubating her eggs she will abandon the clutch, and can often lay a new clutch if the eggs are eaten by predators.
• Hooded merganser ducklings are covered in down and are able to feed themselves. They remain in the nest for about a day before following the female to a water source to dive for food.
• The ducklings fledge by the time they are 10 weeks old.

Other facts about the hooded merganser:

• Though they are strong, swift swimmers, hooded mergansers are awkward on land because their legs are situated far back on their body.
• When they are startled, hooded mergansers are one of the of the swiftest diving ducks to jump from the water.
• Rather than flying, hooded mergansers prefer to follow waterways while migrating.