Skip to content
  • Home
  • Parks
  • Zoo
  • Golf
  • Dining
  • About
  • Users with low vision can activate this option to help them read text.
  • Users prone to seizures can deactivate this option to ensure that the site does not cause any blinking animations.
  • Allow content to change automatically
  • Accessibility Information
  • Cart
  • Sign In
Zoo
  • Visit
  • Animals & Attractions
  • Programs & Events
  • Learn
  • Support
  • Buy Tickets
View All Results

    Merganser, Hooded

    • Animals & Attractions
    • Animals
    • Merganser, Hooded

    On a clear lake in the Ohio woodlands, hooded mergansers glide by. These small diving ducks with oddly shaped heads will stay until cold temperatures inspire them to fly south to warmer waters.

      Share This
      Merganser, Hooded
      Mergus cucullatus, Aves Anseriformes

      The length is 16 to 19 inches. This duck's small, thin bill and crested head give it a distinctive profile. Breeding males may have a glossy black head with a neat, rounded crest, and a prominent white head patch starting behind the eye. Rusty flanks are separated from a white breast by two vertical black bars and a black back. Females are dark with a grayish-brown head and a prominent rust-orange crest. The back is dull black, the flanks brownish-gray, and the chin and throat paler.

      • Wilderness Trek
      • RangeAlaska to Nova Scotia, British Columbia, the U.S.A. except southwestern states
      • HabitatWooded habitats that contain clear-water streams or clear lakes.
      • Wild DietFish, frogs, tadpoles, crustaceans, mollusks, snails
      • Zoo DietWaterfowl diet, generic grain

      Conservation

      StatusLeast Concern

      The Zoo is tackling today's most complex and pressing human-wildlife conservation issues with conservation partnersĀ in more than a dozen countries around the world.

      • Learn More

      Did you know?

      Mergansers are the only ducks in North America that specialize in eating fish. Their eyes are well adapted for seeing underwater and they hunt by diving down into the water searching for their prey.

      • Behavior

        Usually seen in pairs or small parties, these ducks are less sociable than most diving-ducks. Their flocks rarely exceed 15 birds. Pair formation begins in mid-winter. Mergansers feed by diving. They fly rapidly, low over the surface of the water, taking off with some spattering over the surface. They are very agile while flying through the trees. They are migratory, but often remain until force to move by freezing waters.

      • Reproduction

        Females frequently reoccupy the nest site of the previous year if it is still available. They prefer to nest in tree cavities along secluded woodland ponds and streams. When incubation is underway the males desert the females to commence post-breeding molt. Females move their newly-hatched ducklings out of the nest within a day of hatching, and usually go to shallow waters close to timber. The fledging period is about 70 days. It is uncertain how long the female remains with her brood.

      • Gestation32 to 33 days
      • Litter8 to 12, usually 10, glossy white eggs

      Explore More Animals

      • Duck, White-Faced Whistling
        Duck, White-Faced WhistlingDendrocygna viduata
        • Crane, Red Crowned
          Crane, Red CrownedGrus japonensis
          • Duck, Mandarin
            Duck, MandarinAix galericulata
            Skip About The MetroparksSkip Footer Navigation
            Stay Up To Date
            • 3900 Wildlife Way, Cleveland, OH 44109
            • 216.661.6500
            • zooinfo@clevelandmetroparks.com
            • Parks
              • Visit
              • Calendar
              • Education
              • Shop
              • Support
            • Zoo
              • Visit
              • Animals & Attractions
              • Programs & Events
              • Learn
              • Support
              • Buy Tickets
            • Golf
              • Courses
              • Lessons & Events
              • Pricing
              • Book A Tee Time
            • About
              • Employment
              • Education
              • Conservation
              • Recreation
              • Cleveland Metroparks Organization
              • Contact Us
              • Policies & Terms
            • Programs & Events
            • News & Press
            Home
            © 2018 Cleveland Metroparks. All Rights Reserved.