Download Hooded Merganser Fact Sheet - The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore

Fact Sheet: Hooded Merganser
Lophodytes cucullatus
Description:
• Length: 15-19 in (40–49 cm)
• Wingspan: 2 ft 2 in (x cm)
• Weight: 1.5 lbs (453-879 g)
• Physical Description: Small ducks with a narrow bill and a head crest that can be
extended and contracted. The crest makes the head appear to be oversized and
egg-shaped. It’s wings are narrow and the tail is round and relatively long.
• Coloration:
o Males- During the breeding season, males are black backs with a white breast
and brown sides. The black head crest has a large white patch. They have golden
yellow or brown eyes. In the fall and winter, their coloration is more similar to
the female.
o Females- Mostly gray and mottled brown, with a cinnamon colored crest, and
red eyes.
In the Wild
Habitat and Range:
• Range: The hooded merganser is a North American duck, found along the Pacific
Northwest, through the great lake region in southern Canada. In the winter it travels
further South along both the Pacific and Atlantic coasts.
• Habitat: The hooded merganser prefers forested wetlands. As a cavity nester, it will also
occasionally make use of nest boxes in non-forested wetlands.
Diet:
• Hooded mergansers are carnivorous. They hunt aquatic insects, fish, and crustaceans.
Adaptations:
• Hooded mergansers, as a diving duck, sit lower in the water and are less buoyant than
dabbling ducks. This helps them dive underwater to find their prey.
• Their beaks are narrow and slightly hooked to make them more adapt at feeding on
animals than plants.
• Like all ducks, they have webbed feet to help them swim, and a gland at the base of
their tail called an uropygial gland, which provides oil for waterproofing their feathers.
• Hooded mergansers have a third eyelid, called a nictitating membrane, which helps
protect their eyes and aid in focusing better underwater. Since they hunt primarily by
sight, this helps the hooded merganser find prey.
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Lifespan:
• The average lifespan of the hooded merganser in the wild is 11-12 years.
Ecosystem relationships:
• Predators: Most predation happens on eggs and nestlings. Common predators include
raccoons, mink, snakes, bears, European starlings, Northern flickers, and woodpeckers.
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Name
The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore
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Interspecies Competitors: Other diving ducks, freshwater herons and predatory fish.
Niche- As predators of freshwater invertebrates and small fish, hooded mergansers play
an important role in helping control the population of these species. Their eggs and
nestlings are also a food source for certain predators.
Reproduction:
• Behavior: Hooded mergansers are seasonally monogamous tree cavity nesters. Females
select the nest site. Males are selected by females based on their display of brightly
colored head crest feathers. Males abandon the females shortly after eggs are laid, and
the females incubate and raise the young.
• Breeding Season: Pair formation takes place in early winter, and nesting takes place in
the spring. Most egg laying takes place in March and April, but can vary according to
latitude. Hooded mergansers have one brood per year.
• Clutch Size: 6-15 eggs
o Brood Parasitism Like other cavity nesters, hooded mergansers will sometimes lay some of
their eggs in other female hooded merganser’s nests. Some nests have
been found to have over 40 eggs in them. Females will raise any chicks
that hatch from their nests.
• Incubation Period: 29-37 days
• Maturation: Nestlings fledge at about 5 weeks old, but are precocial and able to leave
the nest within 24 hours of hatching.
Activity:
• Diurnal
Other “fun facts”:
• The eggs of a hooded merganser are nearly spherical and have a thicker shell than eggs
of other similarly sized ducks.
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Conservation Status and Threats:
• Listed on the IUCN Red List as least concern
• Threats: Historically (1890-1910) overhunted, but no longer considered a highly targeted
game species. The biggest threat to the hooded merganser today is habitat loss and
degradation. Agriculture and other runoff sources have increased turbidity in much of
the freshwater habitat for the hooded merganser, leading to a reduction of available
prey items.
• Conservation Efforts: Nest box building programs, usually targeted for wood ducks, can
be beneficial to hooded mergansers as well. Care must be taken to preserve the habitat
in which they live, including encouraging landowners not to remove snags in order to
increase the available nesting habitat for these ducks.
At the Zoo
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The Maryland zoo in Baltimore has 4 wood ducks, 2 males and 2 females.
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Name
The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore
What We Can Do
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When hunting waterfowl, follow the law and use only non-toxic shot.
Support initiatives to help reintroduce SAV’s and reduce sedimentation.
Make environmentally responsible lifestyle decisions to help conserve habitat –
conserve energy and resources, reduce litter and pollution
Support the conservation efforts of local organizations like The Maryland Zoo as well as
organizations working in the field to protect wildlife and conserve habitat
Build nest boxes near streams, ponds, lakes and other aquatic habitats. Especially in
wooded areas with a lack of cavity trees.
References:
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http://www.marylandzoo.org/animals-conservation/birds/hooded-merganser/
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Hooded_Merganser/lifehistory
http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Lophodytes_cucullatus/
http://www.ducks.org/hunting/waterfowl-id/hooded-merganser#ad-image-0
http://birds.audubon.org/birds/hooded-merganser
http://birdweb.org/Birdweb/bird/hooded_merganser
Name
The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore