Hooded merganser

The male hooded merganser is a duck made for photographers, with a black head and a crest that he can raise and lower like a fan, showing a bold white patch with a black edge. The female is a more subtle brown, with a ragged cinnamon crest. Together they are one of the most beautiful pairs on a quiet pond.

These small diving ducks hunt by sight, chasing fish, crayfish, and insects under the water with a thin, serrated bill. They nest in tree cavities near wooded water, and the ducklings leap from the nest hole a day after hatching, bouncing to the ground. In Manitoba they are seen in spring and fall, often on forest ponds and slow rivers.

Here is one of my favourite frames of this bird.

Back to Manitoba bird photography, or see the portfolio.