male	male female European distribution male

Identification

Mergansers in all plumages are characterised by their scruffy appearance. Even the male with his reddish breast band and green glossed head contrives to look bedraggled. Mergansers and Goosanders in the duller brown plumages of females and immatures are known as red-heads. In a Merganser the red on the head merges gradually into the mucky-grey on the neck and body whereas the Goosander shows clear demarcation. The shaggy crest and upswept bill add to their eccentrically untidy appearance. In flight they also look skinny and straggly. The males are almost entirely white on the inner wing whereas the females have only a white panel around the secondaries. In Mergansers this panel is broken by a complete dark horizontal line.

Habitat

Breeds beside rivers, lakes and coastal and freshwater pools. Winters on estuaries and coasts.

Migration

Birds move from their northerly wintering breeding grounds to spend the winter, from September to May, in coastal areas.

This information is taken from the BirdFile on the appropriate BirdGuides DVD-ROM. As well as video and sounds, our CD- and DVD-ROMs contain additional text on Voice, Sexing, Ageing, Food, Nests and Eggs and more.

For the purposes of our bird news services, Red-breasted Merganser is classed as Common: common species, including species that are certain or probable escapees from captivity when occurring in the British Isles. (Note that rarity levels are currently applied nationally and may not reflect local variations in abundance.)

Achranich, Highland 23/08/2010	Inverneill, Argyll 19/08/2010	Lochranza, Arran, Clyde Is. 23/07/2010	Lochranza, Arran, Clyde Is. 23/07/2010	undisc. site, Shetland 14/06/2010
Cemlyn Bay, Anglesey 23/04/2010	Derwent Wtr, Cumbria 11/06/2010	Mull, Argyll 06/06/2010	Mull, Argyll 26/05/2010	Mull, Argyll 26/05/2010

 View all pictures of Red-breasted Merganser

Red-breasted Merganser breeds in the following countries (Bird News Extra subscribers will see population statistics and information on trends for each country):

Belarus
Britain
Denmark
Estonia
Faroe Islands
Finland
France
Germany
Greenland
Iceland
Ireland
Latvia
Lithuania
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Russia
Sweden
Switzerland
Ukraine

http://blx1.bto.org/birdfacts/results/bob2210.htm   BTO BirdFacts: Red-breasted Merganser	Edit this link
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	Tricky Sawbills	Friday 2nd December 2005
	Drake Red-breasted Mergansers and Goosanders present few problems at close range, but just how do you separate those tricky redheads?

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