Common Merganser Identification

Male (North American)

Large duck with long body and long, straight bill. Mostly white, with green head and orange-red bill.

Female (North American)

Female is mostly gray with a reddish-brown head. Note the shaggy crest, white chin patch, and sharp break between the reddish-brown head and whitish upper breast.

Males with Mallards

Male and female (North American)

In North America, both sexes have dark outer wings with white patch on secondary flight feathers. Male also shows white on leading edge of wing.

Male (Eurasian)

In Europe and Asia, Common Merganser is known by the common name Goosander. Male Goosander has a darker, blood-red bill, and in flight shows a pure white wing patch (North American male's wing patch is interrupted by a thin black bar).

Female with juveniles

Male and female (Eurasian)

Male typically abandons the nest during incubation, leaving the female to care for ducklings on her own.

Female (Eurasian)

Large duck with long, slender bill. Warm reddish head has ragged crest, white chin, and sharp border with white chest.

Breeding males

Female and chick (North American)

Female has gray body contrasting with cinnamon-red, crested head. May be seen with large numbers of ducklings in summer.

Immature male (North American)

Immature male shows a mix of female and adult male features.

Females/nonbreeding males

Male and female (North American)

Fairly common on freshwater, especially rivers. Often rests on boulders or logs in midstream.

Immature (North American)

Similar to female, but with reduced crest, lighter head color, more extensive white on face, and thin brownish line extending from base of bill onto face.

Female (North American)

Typically nests in a natural cavity or woodpecker hole in a live or dead tree.

Male and female (North American)

Fairly common along freshwater lakes and rivers; rarer in saltwater or brackish water.