Common Merganser
Mergus merganser
The Common Merganser is a large diving duck of clear rivers, lakes, and coastal waters across the Northern Hemisphere. It hunts mostly by swimming underwater after fish, gripping slippery prey with a long, narrow, serrated bill. Strong flight carries it between feeding sites, but its most distinctive fighting style is aquatic pursuit and sudden underwater lunges. Females nest in tree cavities, and newly hatched ducklings famously leap from the nest to follow their mother to water.
- Type
- Water
- Conservation status
- LC
Growth chain
- ?
- Common Merganser