The male Hooded Merganser has a black head with a large white patch from behind the yellow eye to its bushy crest which can be expanded or contracted. The neck and back are black with a black band across a white breast, reddish-brown flanks, and a thin black beak. The Hooded Merganser has a sawbill for gripping fish.
The female has a dull brown head with a smaller red-brown crest, brown eyes, the beak has a yellow lower mandible and darker upper mandible, the upperparts are brownish-grey with greyish upper-breast, flanks, and white lower-breast.
The male in eclipse plumage is very similar to the female but has yellow eyes and a darker beak.
Typical Adult is about 48cm (19in).
Small fish, crustaceans, and aquatic insects.
Swamps, wooded ponds, lakes, and rivers in northern USA, and southern Canada. They winter in the USA.
March to beginning of May in colder regions.
8 to 12 (glossy white colour).
River Cottage's collection of Ducks changes regularly. Please visit us regularly to keep up-to-date with our flock
Click the button above to add a pair of Hooded Merganser Ducks to 'My Enquiries' which is available at the top of each page, and similar to a 'basket' on an ecommerce website!
Note: All birds are subject to availability and we reserve the right to alter prices as the market and our costs dictate. Viewing is strictly by appointment. Please contact us for futher details
