- Red-breasted Merganser
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Red-breasted Merganser 
Male in winter at New Jersey, USA 
Female, Thun, Switzerland Conservation status Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Anseriformes Family: Anatidae Subfamily: Merginae Genus: Mergus Species: M. serrator Binomial name Mergus serrator
Linnaeus, 1758
Red-breasted Merganser range
yellow=sumnmer; blue=winter; green=all yearSynonyms Merganser serrator
The Red-breasted Merganser (Mergus serrator) is a diving duck.
Contents
Taxonomy
The Red-breasted Merganser was one of the many species originally described by Linnaeus in his 18th-century work, Systema Naturae.[2]
Juvenile, Florida
Description
The adult Red-breasted Merganser is 51–62 cm (20–24 in) long with a 70–86 cm (28–34 in) wingspan.[3] It has a spiky crest and long thin red bill with serrated edges. The male has a dark head with a green sheen, a white neck with a rusty breast, a black back, and white underparts. Adult females have a rusty head and a greyish body. The juvenile is like the female, but lacks the white collar and has a smaller white wing patch.
Voice
The call of the female is a rasping prrak prrak, while the male gives a feeble hiccup-and-sneeze display call.
Behaviour
It has been claimed to be the fastest bird in level flight, reaching speeds of 161 km/h (100 mph),[4][5] but is disputed whether the White-throated Needletail is faster, reportedly flying at 170 km/h (105 mph).[6]
Food and feeding
Red-breasted Mergansers dive and swim underwater. They mainly eat small fish, but also aquatic insects, crustaceans, and frogs.
Breeding
Its breeding habitat is freshwater lakes and rivers across northern North America, Greenland, Europe, and Asia. It nests in sheltered locations on the ground near water. It is migratory and many northern breeders winter in coastal waters further south.
Conservation
The Red-breasted Merganser is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.
References
- ^ BirdLife International (2008). Mergus serrator. In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 9 December 2010.
- ^ Linnaeus, Carl (1758) (in Latin). Systema naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I. Editio decima, reformata. Holmiae. (Laurentii Salvii).
- ^ Jonsson, Lars (1992). Birds of Europe with North Africa and the MIddle East. Princeton University Press. p. 118. ISBN 0-691-03326-9.
- ^ Amazing Bird Records
- ^ Table of various fastest flying things. Retrieved on 10 June 2009
- ^ The world's fastest birds Retrieved on 10 June 2009
External links
Categories:- IUCN Red List least concern species
- Mergus
- Birds of Pakistan
- Birds of Europe
- Birds of Iceland
- Birds of Turkey
- Birds of Iran
- Birds of the Faroe Islands
- Birds of Greenland
- British Isles coastal fauna
- Mergansers
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