Hooded Merganser

Status Uncommon transient, rare in summer, very rare in winter. Breeds. It was listed as rare in the nineteenth century by Blakiston and Bland (1857) and Jones (1885), the latter referring to a bird taken at Lawrencetown, Halifax County, in November 1884. The next specimen was taken at Petpeswick, Halifax County, on 21 March 1907, and there were only 17 more records between that year and 1960. It has become more regular since.

Description Length: 40-48 cm. Adult male: Prominent crest, front of which is black, remainder white narrowly edged with black; rest of upperparts black to very dark gray, lighter on tail; underparts white, with black band extending from back and coming to a point on sides of breast; sides cinnamon-brown, with fine transverse black barring. Adult female: Upperparts dark brown; throat white; head, neck and upper breast grayish brown; crest rufous.

Breeding Nest: In a hollow tree, stump or manmade nest-box, usually near water, height from the ground determined by available nest site. Nest is lined with dry vegetable debris mixed with down from the bird's breast. Eggs: 8-16; buffy white.

The first evidence of breeding in Nova Scotia was given by Richard Cain and William Woodworth (in the employ of the Provincial Department of Lands and Forests at the time) who encountered a female and brood of four on 29 August 1962 on the Shelburne River near the border of Queens County; one of the young was collected.

Other broods have been recorded since in the southwestern end of the province. The first nest for Nova Scotia, reported by Norman D. Phinney, was about 3 km from the headquarters of Kejimkujik National Park. The pair was first seen near his cottage on 29 April 1968 at a nest-box erected near the water's edge to attract Wood Ducks. Presumably the same pair nested in this box in 1969 and 1970, and was successful every year, with broods of 8-12 young. When the female returned to her nest and saw Mr. Phinney sitting on his verandah at close range, she would circle cautiously several times before entering the nest-box. The male was seldom seen and only during the early part of the season.

Range Breeds from extreme southern Alaska to Oregon and from Manitoba to Nova Scotia and the lower Mississippi Valley. Winters from as far north as open fresh water can be found, south to the Gulf States, Mexico and Cuba.

Remarks Native to North America, it is one of the most beautiful of our waterfowl. For this distinction, the full-plumage drake is in close competition with the drake of the Wood Duck, and the two species may be found in close association in summer. When erected, the conspicuous, fan-like crest of the drake is its outstanding adornment and serves as an excellent field mark, but when this crest is depressed or laid back, as is often the case, identification in life is surprisingly more difficult.

When wounded it is seldom retrieved because of its skill in hiding along the shoreline when resurfacing for air. Unlike the other two mergansers, this bird rises quickly and is particularly swift in flight. I flushed a flock of about 25 from Lumsdens Lake, Kings County, in October 1966 and was impressed with how quickly they gained altitude.

A specimen in the hand can be readily distinguished from other kinds of ducks by noting its "saw-bill," typical of all mergansers, and from the other two mergansers by its smaller size and general appearance.