Species: Mergus serrator
Red-breasted Merganser
Species
Encyclopedia of Puget Sound
Classification
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Craniata
Class
Aves
Order
Anseriformes
Family
Anatidae
Genus
Mergus
NatureServe
Classification
Other Global Common Names
Mergo Copetón - harle huppé
Informal Taxonomy
Animals, Vertebrates - Birds - Waterfowl
Formal Taxonomy
Animalia - Craniata - Aves - Anseriformes - Anatidae - Mergus
Ecology and Life History
Migration
false - true - true - Migrates north mostly March-May; arrives in northernmost breeding areas late May-early June. Southward migration mostly September-December. Some coastal breeding populations may stay in area all year? (Palmer 1976).
Non-migrant
false
Locally Migrant
true
Food Comments
Eats mostly fishes plus some crustaceans; insects are important to young (Palmer 1976). Dives underwater to forage.
Reproduction Comments
Clutch size: 6-16 (often 8-10); incubation: 29-35 days, by female; young first fly at estimated age of 59 days; first breeds at almost 2 years (Terres 1980, Palmer 1976).
Length
58
Weight
1135
Conservation Status
NatureServe Global Status Rank
G5
Global Status Last Reviewed
1996-11-21
Global Status Last Changed
1996-11-21
Other Status
LC - Least concern
Distribution
Conservation Status Map
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Global Range
H - >2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles) - H - BREEDING: northern Alaska to Baffin Island and Newfoundland, south to Aleutians, southeastern Alaska, northern Alberta, Minnesota, Michigan, northern New York, northern Vermont, Maine, and Nova Scotia. NON-BREEDING: southern Alaska, Great Lakes, and Nova Scotia to Baja California, Gulf Coast, Florida; very rare in Hawaii. Winters primarily in coastal waters (especially the Atlantic coast from Maine to North Carolina, the Gulf coast along the Florida panhandle, and around Vancouver Island) but also in many inland areas (including especially southern Lake Huron and northern Utah) (Root 1988). Also breeds and winters in the Old World.
Global Range Code
H
Global Range Description
>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)

