Merganser duck: description of the species and characteristics, what it eats and lifestyle

Duck merganser - taiga inhabitant. A waterfowl is called a toothy bird. The beak of mergansers is adapted for catching fish in habitats - fresh and s alted lakes and rivers. The mergansers are divided into three types: large, medium and small. The population of the most common, large merganser, is stable. But other species of birds are rare and protected.

Origin of species and description

The genus Krokhal belongs to the Anatidae family of the Anseriformes order. External characteristics of a large merganser:

body length - 66 centimeters;
average weight - 1 kilogram;
wingspan - 97 centimeters;
The serrated beak is pointed and curved down at the end.

There is an extensive white mark, or "mirror" on the outside of the unfolded wings of birds.

The mergansers are characterized by sexual and age demorphism:

male (drake) - black-gray-white body, black head and neck, with a dark green shiny tint, red beak. In autumn, the green tint disappears. A light stripe separates the beak and eye on both sides of the heads;
female (duck) - gray-white, with a dark red head and neck. The band of light feathers on the head is missing;
young growth - gray-brown, with a dark head and a white throat.

The medium, or long-nosed, merganser is smaller than its large congener. The body of the bird does not exceed fifty centimeters in length. Wingspan - 67-86 centimeters.The back of the head of males in the mating season is decorated with a double crest. The plumage is distinguished by a red and white color on the chest, as well as a brown goiter and red paws.

Small merganser reaches forty-four centimeters in length and weighs 680-935 grams. Black and white males are larger than variegated females. According to external features, the bird simultaneously approaches goldeneyes and mergansers, but it is separated into a separate genus Lutkov. Also isolated are scaly, Brazilian and crested merganser, which are less common than other species.

The serrated beak is the main feature of mergansers of all varieties, justifying the nickname "toothed duck". A large merganser has 13-15 teeth, while a medium one has 18.

Greater merganser is divided into several subspecies, which are distinguished from each other and from other varieties by a wavy gray pattern on the wings and distribution area.

Habitat of merganser duck

Toothy ducks are migratory and partially migratory birds. They live in the northern latitudes, and for the winter they migrate to the subtropics, to the sea coasts, and also settle near water bodies in a temperate climate.

WinteringBigNorth of Denmark and Scandinavia, Alps, UK, Iceland, Poland, Belarus.Central AsianThe northern border of the range covers the taiga, forest-tundra of Scandinavia, Kamchatka, the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk, Sakhalin, the Shantar and Hokkaido islands, the north of Sweden and Norway, the Yenisei, Indigirka, Kolyma rivers. Temperate, southern latitudes, borders of ice fields.Primorsky Territory, south of Khabarovsk Territory along the Sikhote-Alin mountain range, the Changbaishan Mountains on the border of China and Korea and in the Lesser Khingan MountainsSouth Korea and China

Species	Subspecies	Area
		Kola Peninsula, Yamal, Yenisei, Vilyui, Lena, Kolyma Range, northern Chukotka, western Siberia, southern Alaska, Quebec, Newfoundland	B altic, Northern, Black, Caspian Sea , Central, Southern Europe, Central Asia, Japan, Korea, China Eastern Hemisphere
	Nominative	Iceland, northeast China, northern Japan

		Territories from northeastern Afghanistan to western China, Tibet, Himalayas.
Medium		North America, Eurasia, northern regions, tundra, forest-steppe belt	Moves to the sea in subtropical and temperate climates
Small		The southern border passes through Finland, the upper reaches of the Lena and Sakmara rivers. Occurs in Romania, in the Urals, on the Black Irtysh River	Wattovo, B altic, Black, Caspian Sea, Pakistan, southern France, England, sometimes water bodies of central Europe. North Africa: Central Iraq, Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt.
Scaly

Every year the number of migratory mergansers changes. In mild winters, part of the population remains on nesting sites. Other flocks move short distances and do not reach the southern regions. In addition to sea coasts, birds winter on fast-flowing lakes, lagoons, and widening estuaries that empty into the sea.

Meganese fly away in late autumn or early winter, when the water freezes, and return in early spring, during the first thaw.

What does a bird eat

Meganese diet:

fish;
crustaceans;
aquatic insects;
worms.

The scaly merganser is a carnivorous bird. Lutok feeds on fish only in winter and early spring, the rest of the time he does not neglect plants. Ducks eat trout, salmon, eel, grayling, roach, barb and pike.They also feed on herring and marine fish. The type of food is determined by the place of nesting or wintering.

To catch a fish, mergansers dip their heads underwater and mark their target. Birds dive completely, grab the fish with their beak and emerge. They swim underwater with their paws. Thanks to the teeth, the fish does not slip out of the beak. During flights, mergansers arrange common fishing, similar to synchronized swimming. Birds swim in a flock on the lake, and then dive at the same time.

Character and lifestyle

The merganser ducks are good swimmers, divers and flyers. Birds live in solitude, spend all day on the water and do not make contact with other birds. They aggressively protect offspring. Migratory mergansers live up to ten years. Birds that lead a partially migratory lifestyle live up to fifteen years, and sedentary birds live up to seventeen.Duck nesting sites:

lakes with water surface clear of vegetation;
reservoirs;
upper rapid currents of rivers.

Birds usually inhabit the tree-shaded banks of large water bodies. To take off, they need a lot of acceleration on the water. The big merganser chooses foothill reservoirs and hills. Scaled mergansers nest in the hollows of coastal trees. Small luts take off more easily from the water, so they prefer to settle in water bodies with coastal vegetation.

Social structure and reproduction

The age of puberty for mergansers is 2 years. Birds return from wintering, having formed pairs. Male behavior during mating season:

wings down to the water;
tail pointing up;
dramatically tilts and raises head;
flaps its wings, rises above the water;
flies up, presses the red beak to the chest.

Lekking males call females with their voice. A long-nosed drake croaks lingeringly, and the duck answers him with a short “gro” sound. The male lutok rarely makes a crackling sound resembling a croak. Females of the Lesser Merganser in the mating season and during the rearing of chicks are recognized by a hoarse croak and a monosyllabic call.

Several pairs of birds side by side on the same stretch of river or lake. Finding a nest site and raising chicks are the responsibility of females.

Birds settle at a distance of a kilometer from the water and nest in the following places:

natural holes in tree trunks and stumps;
woodpecker hollows in coastal willows, aspens, elms and alders;
cracks in rocks;
crevices between large stones;
abandoned buildings;
rarely in the grass, at the roots of shrubs.

Ducks lay their eggs on wooden dust or cover the bottom of the nest with down and feathers. As soon as the female lays her eggs, the male leaves her. It rarely stays until the chicks appear. Drakes live alone and rarely gather in groups for molting. The eggs of the mergansers are white or yellow-cream, without dots and patterns. The average number in a clutch is 11. The duration of incubation is 30 days. Ducks get their own food. Before leaving to feed, the birds cover their eggs with fluff.

Females raise their own chicks and adopted children if their neighbors die from predator attacks or leave their clutches. One duck can raise 75 chicks.

Hatched ducklings are covered with two-color fluff - dark on the back and light on the abdomen. For the first time, they jump out of the nest on the second day after birth, follow their mother to the water and learn to get food - insects that live on the surface of the reservoir. The mother duck rolls her ducklings on her back. At the age of ten, the cubs try animal food - fry. Gradually, the chicks become independent. Hardy ducklings escape from predators by moving quickly through the water. The cubs distract enemies by pretending to be dead to give the mother duck time to escape. At two months, they begin to fly.

Natural enemies

Predators hunting mergansers:

fox;
raccoon dog;
otter;
mink;
marten.

Terrestrial forest dwellers attack adult ducks, find their nests and eat eggs. The danger from the air is represented by a hawk, an owl, an eagle. Snakes also hunt for chicks and eggs.

Population and species status

In 2014, the total number of rare scaly merganser was 5,000 individuals. 85 percent of the world's population lives in Russia. The population of long-nosed and large mergansers is out of danger. Now the Auckland species of toothed duck that lived in New Zealand has been lost. Cats and pigs are to blame for the extermination of birds. The fate of the New Zealand relatives may also befall the Brazilian population.

Protection of merganser ducks

Reason for bird decline:

clearing old forests along the banks of valley rivers;
shooting;
fishing with nets;
construction of dams;
water pollution.

Protection of the big toothy duck is regulated by European environmental conventions and red books. In Russia, hunting for the scaly merganser is prohibited, but loot shooting is allowed.To preserve species diversity, annual monitoring of the number of ducks and factors affecting their life and migration is carried out. Birds are protected in nature reserves.