The streamlined red-breasted merganser is a handsome bird and a great fisher - its long, serrated bill helps it to catch and hold its slippery fish prey. It is most commonly spotted around the coast in winter.
The red-breasted merganser is a medium-sized duck and a member of a group called the 'sawbills' because of their long, narrow bills with saw-like 'teeth' which are good for gripping fish. A long, streamlined bird, it is perfectly shaped for swimming after fish. red-breasted mergansers are gregarious birds, forming flocks of hundreds in winter.
How to identify
The red-breasted merganser is a white diving duck. It can be distinguished from the goosander by its thinner bill, grey sides, reddish-brown breast and crest of green feathers on its head.
Distribution
Nests on lakes and rivers in the north and west of the UK. A common winter visitor to coastal waters.
Did you know?
Apart from the goosander (known in North America as the 'common merganser'), there are three other extant forms of merganser: the hooded merganser which nests in North America; the scaly-sided merganser, which is a rare bird of China, Japan and Korea; and the Brazilian merganser, which is one of the most threatened wildfowl in the world with only 250 birds living in the wild.
