Common Merganser Duck - Duck Hunting - Wetland Hunting
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Description
Common merganser ducks are large, long-bodied with thin pointed wings. The bills are usually straight and narrow. It is typical for females to have shaggy crests on the back of their heads. Their length is approximately 54 – 71 cm; they weigh 900 to 2,160 g and have a wingspan of 86 cm.
While adult males are crisply patterned with gleaning white and dark bodies, they have a back black with a red bill. On the other hand, females and immature males are gray-bodied with a white chest and rusty cinnamon heads. Both sexes show prominent white patches on the upper wings during flight.
Habitat
The main habitats are rivers and wooded lakes in winter and rarely on coastal bays. You can find these ducks around fresh water in any season. In summer, shallow clean rivers and lakes in the forested country are ideal habitats for common merganser ducks.
Diet
The diet is mostly fish. Although the ducks eat a wide variety of fish, they also eat mussels, salamanders, shrimp and rarely feed on plant material. It is common for adult males to swallow a fish that’s more than 1 foot long. However, young ducklings feed on aquatic insects.
These birds forage by diving and swimming underwater. They propel by stroking both their feet in unison. They find most of their food by sight, although they may swim along the surface and dip their head underwater repeatedly until they spot prey.
Nesting
In courtship, the males swim very rapidly in circles near a female. Then, they suddenly stretch their neck upward, pointing their bill straight up, and give a soft call. The nest is near a water source in a large tree cavity, crevices on a rock, undercut banks, nest boxes, or holes under tree roots. Occasionally the nest is in buildings. Debris, nest wood chips, and down are used in lining.
Females lay 6 to 13 pale buff eggs. They incubate the eggs for 30 to 35 days. Females tend the young for several weeks, but the young feed themselves. The young are capable of flight after 65 to 70 days.
