Hooded Merganser

Description
16-19". A small duck with a slender pointed bill. Male has white, fan-shaped, black-bordered crest; blackish body with dull rusty flanks; and white breast with two black stripes down the side. Female is dull gray-brown with head and crest warmer brown. Both sexes show a white wing patch when in flight.
Voice
Hoarse grunts and chatters.
Habitat
Breeds on wooded ponds, lakes, and rivers; winters in coastal marshes and inlets.
Nesting
8-12 white eggs in a down-lined cup placed in a natural tree cavity or sometimes in a fallen hollow log.
Other
The smallest of our mergansers, Hooded are most often seen along rivers and in estuaries during the fall and winter. They are usually found in pairs or in flocks of up to a dozen; when startled they are among the fastest flying of our ducks.They feed chiefly on small fish, which they pursue in long, rapid, underwater dives, but also take frogs and aquatic insects.
Picture
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