It is an uncommon to rare migrant and winter resident across the state found on deeper lakes and rivers. 7/13/14 & 7/14/14: This week on Fieldnotes: "Common Mergansers," written by Kristi Johnson, read by Allison De Jong. Named for the hood-like crest on both the male and female, the hooded merganser is one of two commonly observed merganser duck species found in the Bitterroot. Female merganser on Lake McDonald. I noted this with frustration as I scrambled in vain for a good observation point that cloudless day. Mergansers are our only ducks that specialize in eating fish. Common Merganser Images, Facts and Information: Mergus merganser Common Mergansers are long-bodied diving ducks with long, thin reddish serrated bills, orange feet and legs and dark eyes. Similar species both have larger crests: Red-breasted merganser males have gray sides, a dark chest and back, and a ragged crest; females have a pale rusty head with an indistinct border between rusty head and gray-white breast. #gnp, #GlacierNationalPark, #instaglacier, #commonmerganser, #glacierwildlife, #forthebirds. NPS Photo Ray Radigan. The Common Merganser is not common in Tennessee during any part of the year. There are three types of these birds in North America. Females have gray bodies with cinnamon colored heads with shaggy crests Common Mergansers are The males have greenish, black heads, white bodies and black backs in breeding plumage. The Common Merganser, as the name indicates, is the most abundant and whose habitat covers the largest portions of the continent. Mergansers are divers, and the legs are far back on the body; on land, the posture is upright. Interestingly, it apparently once nested in the state because 6 sets of eggs … Merganser, also called Sawbill, fish duck, or trash duck, any of several species of Mergus, long-bodied, more or less crested diving ducks; though essentially freshwater birds, they are classified with scoters and goldeneyes in the sea duck tribe, Mergini (family Anatidae, order Anseriformes).They are called trash ducks because their flesh is rank. Caption this... use #mergansermania. The Hooded is the smallest of our three native merganser species, and often seems to be the least numerous, as it tends to live around swamps and wooded ponds where it may be overlooked. "Water being their natural element, mergansers are often wary of trouble from land and sky. The mergansers are also known as "Fish Ducks" and fish is their main diet. Similar looking birds to Common Merganser: Red-breasted Merganser Breeding male, Red-breasted Merganser Female/nonbreeding male, Hooded Merganser Adult male, Hooded Merganser Nonbreeding male, Common Goldeneye Female, Barrow's Goldeneye Female