While out birding I came across a beautiful Hooded Merganser that was a juvenile female. It gave nice views for a few minutes before moving off. It was a partly cloudy day with low winds but temperature were around 37 degrees, sorta chilly. Images were taken on November 14, 2022.
The Hooded Merganser…
Down for a drink…
Some preening…
More preening…
In coming…
Nice looking duck…
Just a little shaking off…
One of my birding stops today provided excellent views of a male Hooded Merganser in Waukesha County. It swam around with some Mallards, ate and did some preening too. A beautiful bird with partly cloudy skies, light winds and mild temperatures. Images were taken on November 7, 2021.
The Hooded Merganser, male…
Closeup…
The hood up…
The hood with a breeze…
Talking to another duck…
Preening…
Alert!
Just up from a dive…
Just a good looking duck!
One of my birding stops today was at the Fox River in downtown Waukesha. As I came around the corner in the car standing in front of me in the middle of the road, a Hooded Merganser, a male with a female Mallard. Is this “Hollyhood”?? Before I got parked both ducks were off into the middle of the river being ducks. The Hooded Merganser seemed to be checking out numerous females Mallards and doing some displaying, trying to show off but none of the females seemed to be impressed or interested. After a few minutes, the Hooded Merganser just took off and flew to the north up the river out of sight. It was a cold breezy morning with temps hanging around 32 degrees, with no sun. Images were taken on March 22, 2020.
Hooded Merganser, male, is this Hollyhood?
On shore for a moment…
The back view…
Displaying…
Sees a female Mallard, in a hurry…
One of my birding stops today provided nice views of a male Hooded Merganser. It was hanging out with some Mallards along the Fox River in Waukesha. A few times it dove for something to eat and came up with a crayfish. The weather was misty with a few flurries mixed in, mild temps around 35 degrees with no wind. Images were taken on January 24, 2020.
Mr. Good Looking!
Cruising around off the ice…
Duck talk!
Up from a dive has a crayfish…
Tosses it around the get the right end to go down first…
Looking at me I guess…
A nice pose…
One of my birding stops today in Waukesha County along a river. It had a stunning male Hooded Merganser that was hanging out with Mallards. The Hooded Merganser gave nice views, I witnessed very little feeding, only once I saw part of a crayfish in its bill when it came up after diving. It was a beautiful day out, almost spring like, with full sun and little wind, temps about 47 degrees. Images were taken on November 20, 2019.
Hooded Merganser, male with his mouth open…
What a beautiful duck, hood up!
Resting…
Swallowing water from a drink…
I did some general birding on the first of the new year and it was pretty quiet. The highlight of the day was a Hooded Merganser, some say it’s “Hollyhood”! Some birding on the Milwaukee lakefront produced an adult Iceland Gull at South Shore Yacht Club. That was about it for birds to note on a very cold morning with temps around 20 and stiff winds from the west, it was cloudy. Images were taken on January 1, 2019.
Hooded Merganser, male
Wet head, just after some head dipping…
Iceland Gull in flight, note white wing tips at the South Shore Yacht Club…
I stopped by the Fox River this morning near the dam in Waukesha to see if anything was going on. There was a male Hooded Merganser present hanging out with Mallards. Could this be the famous “Hollyhood” that was seen last winter? Some believe it is that. I can’t say, but it acted like it could be, on shore once for awhile watching the mallards eat some bird seed that someone had tossed out. It was a gloomy day with a light mist every so often, I hung around and took some pics of this guy as he had not been seen for 4 days and this was my first sighting of him since last winter. Dan W was down at the river and said the merganser had just come in before I got there. Just before I left, the merganser took to the air and flew out of sight to the north. A beautiful duck I will say! Temps were around 35, low winds but a dark gloomy day as said. Images were taken on November 24, 2018.
Hooded Merganser, male
On the shore just being one of the mallards…
The beauty of the back view…
Sitting on the shoreline thinking about the next move…
Start of a stretch that did not happen…
On a second stop of the day at this location birding on the Fox River in Waukesha appeared a Hooded Merganser. This stunning male spent his time checking out the female Mallards one by one. I think this could be the famous Hooded Merganser “Hollyhood” that was here just over a year ago? Well, not really, who knows for sure, but it put on a great show while I was there giving nice views while following female Mallards around on the river. I am almost convinced there is some connection between male Hooded Mergansers and female Mallards as this is my 3rd time I’ve witnessed this behavior with these two species. What is it with the Hooded Merganser wanting a companion, a mating thing, or ?? It was a cold day with winds out of the northeast, temps below freezing and very little sun. Images were taken on April 8, 2018.
Hooded Merganser, male…crest partially down
His eyes on another female Mallard…
The Hooded Merganser starred at the female Mallard out of the corner of his eye for about 20 seconds, is this the one….
Crest down on this Hooded Merganser swimming over to check out another female Mallard…
Going to check out another female Mallard…crest down…
Cruising over to a female Mallard to see if she was the one!
Crest down…
Crest up…
Crest partially down…
Coming into shore…
Just moving along…
Birding along the Fox River in downtown Waukesha today produced a pair of adult Hooded Mergansers, males. They briefly gave nice views when hanging out with Mallards, but then at times moved short distances up and down the river by themselves. There were still ~50 Common Goldeneye on the river along with some Lesser Scaup, pair of Bufflehead and 100+ Mallards. A short birding run along the lakefront in Milwaukee from Bayview to Bradford Beach produced fewer birds than previous days, nothing to note other than previously reported birds. It seemed like the many large rafts of winter ducks had moved north. I saw many large flocks of ducks flying north over the water yesterday. It was a beautiful spring like day with temps well into the 40’s, sunny skies, low winds. Images were taken on February 27, 2018.
Hooded Merganser, male with crest up…
The pair of male Hooded Mergansers…
Hooded Merganser…
Hooded Merganser some displaying…
Hooded Merganser more displaying…
Hooded Merganser, male with crest down…
Hooded Merganser just floating along…
Hooded Merganser with the wind blowing from behind…
Cruising along…
Hooded Merganser with the crest partially down…
Hooded Merganser male, such a beautiful duck!
A stop at the Fox River in Waukesha late morning today gave nice views of a Hooded Merganser, male. It hung around with a large flock of Mallards at times. Once it came up on the shore as someone had tossed out some corn, it appeared to eat a piece. It stood there as the Mallards ate the corn, like it did not know what it was suppose to do there. One time on the water I saw it eat a crayfish. For the most part it felt right at home with the Mallards. Not much else was on the river where I was other than a few Canada Geese. What a beautiful duck! It was a very gloomy day, with the mild temps it did not feel too bad for January. Images were taken from January 22, – February 6, 2017
Hooded Merganser, male
Binomial name: Lophodytes cucullatus
Category: Duck, Geese, and Swans
Size: 18” long, 24” wing span
Weight: 1.4 lb
Hood up
Hood up
Hood down
With corn
Hood down before a dive
The dive
The dive
Preening
Preening
Preening
Hood up
Hood down
At you
Crayfish snack!
Preening
Preening
Preening
Preening
Hood is up!
Hood is up!
On the ice
Best friends! The Hooded Merganser follows the Mallard, female around all day, he is always at her side..:)
Hood is down!
Hood is up, just a walk on shore following around the female Mallard
Stretching
Hood is down!
A quick drink!
A pair of Hooded Mergansers were present on the Fox River in downtown Waukesha WI. today. The female has been around for a couple of days but a male arrived this afternoon. The pair hung together swimming, catching prey and preening. Other species present were Common Goldeneye Ducks (m-f), Red-breasted (m-f) ~30 Common Mergansers (m-f), Redheads (m-f) with many Mallards (m-f). Scaups were also present but I never checked to see if they were G or L as I was focused on the Hooded Mergansers. The river was wide open today with milder temps and the duck were more spread out. The Mute Swans in the area were still the highlight at the river walk to pedestrians, bikers and walkers. Photographs were taken on March 18, 2014.
Hooded Merganser – M (crest mostly up)
Binomial name: Lophodytes cucullatus
Category: Duck, Geese, and Swans
Size: 18” long, 24” wing span
Weight: 1.4 lb.
Habitat: This secretive duck prefers wooded freshwater wetlands where mature, cavity-bearing trees exist for nesting. They will also use open wetlands where next boxes have been put installed.
Diet: Small fish, crustaceans (especially crayfish), amphibians, and sometimes vegetation.
Nesting: They select out of the way places, and the nest is usually well hidden on wooded ponds, lakes and rivers. In most cases it is hard to locate even by experienced birders and researchers. Nest is a shallow bowl usually made of existing materials in the cavity and then slowly adding her belly down after she starts laying 7-13 eggs. Nest cavities are usually 10-50 off the ground.
Cool facts: Hooded Mergansers have eyes that adapt to water clarity, if the water is murky or clear, they can still see their prey. Considered to be one of the handsomest ducks in North America.
Hooded Merganser – F
Hooded Merganser – M (crest down)
Hooded Merganser – M (crest down) – F
Hooded Merganser – M (crest down) – F
Hooded Merganser – M (crest down) – F, Both preening
Hooded Merganser – M (crest down) – F
Hooded Merganser – M (crest down) – F
Hooded Merganser – M (crest mostly up)
Hooded Merganser – M (crest down) – F
