Red-breasted Merganser (Mergus serrator)
About the Red-breasted Merganser
The red-breasted merganser (Mergus serrator) is a duck species that is native to much of the temperate to subarctic Northern Hemisphere. The red breast that gives the species its common name is only displayed by males in breeding plumage. Individuals fly rapidly, and feed by diving from the surface to pursue aquatic animals underwater, using serrated bills to capture slippery fish. They migrate each year from breeding sites on lakes and rivers to their mostly coastal wintering areas, making them the most frequent species in the genus Mergus to frequent saltwater regularly. The worldwide population of this species is stable, though it is threatened in some areas by habitat loss and other factors.
A real field recording of the Red-breasted Merganser. Press play and focus on the rhythm and pitch of each phrase.
Listen
Our streaming copies are mirrored from the original xeno-canto file and transcoded to 96 kbps mono — a modification, so we note it here; the licence for each recording is named in its credit below.
2 recordings on this page · licensed Public Domain / CC0 ×2 · mirrored on this server, free for commercial reuse · recorded in Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland and elsewhere · xeno-canto lists 101 recordings for this species in total.
Similar species
- Brazilian MerganserMergus octosetaceusprofile
- Common MerganserMergus merganserrecording
- Scaly-sided MerganserMergus squamatusprofile
Species grouped by shared genus, family and range.