Winged Wednesday 1/12/2022

Eric Gofreed

Well-Known Member
I want to share Merganser photos as my contributions for today's Winged Wednesday. Mergansers are streamlined ducks that have thin serrated bills for catching fish and aquatic insects. We have three species of mergansers in North America; the Common Merganser, Hooded Mergansers, and Red-breasted Mergansers. Mergansers are quite shy IMO.

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Common merganser is North America's largest merganser. This is the drake

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Common merganser hen running full-throttle to take-off. The extreme posterior position of the legs and feet is a huge beneficial adaptation for swimming and diving.

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Hooded merganser drake displays his magnificent crest and his masculine chest to romantically impress the hen.

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Displaying and cooing to impress the hen is met by hostility from a rival male

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The red-breasted merganser is the fastest flying duck, timed with an airspeed of 100 mph. This is the drake.

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Red-breasted merganser hen
 
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