Hooded Merganser Ducks (Close-Up) Male & Female, Florida
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Hooded Merganser Male & Female close up in my lake Florida (Lophodytes cucullatus,ORDER: Anseriformes,FAMILY: Anatidae)
Here in Florida the Hooded Merganser Duck is not a resident only during the Non- Breeding Seasons and is usually only here a couple of months. So every winter I look forward to our visiting friends.
.44 The Female Merganser drifts into the Mallard Duck sleeping I found it kinda funny since she rushes off a bit and takes a sip of water as to be saying (It wasn't me I have been here the whole time lol)
Hope you enjoy this video as much as I enjoyed watching them.
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Hooded Mergansers are fairly common on small ponds and streams across their breeding range. In fall through spring, head to unfrozen lakes or shallow, protected saltwater bays and look for them mixed in flocks with other small divers like Bufflehead and Ruddy Ducks.
Hooded Mergansers find their prey underwater by sight. They can actually change the refractive properties of their eyes to improve their underwater vision. In addition, they have an extra eyelid, called a “nictitating membrane,” which is transparent and helps protect the eye during swimming, like a pair of goggles.
FUN COOL FACT-
Along with Wood Ducks and other cavity-nesting ducks, Hooded Mergansers often lay their eggs in other females’ nests. This is called “brood parasitism” and is similar to the practice of Brown-headed Cowbirds, except that the ducks only lay eggs in nests of their own species. Female Hooded Mergansers can lay up to about 13 eggs in a clutch, but nests have been found with up to 44 eggs in them.
Resident to medium-distance migrant. In eastern North America, many Hooded Mergansers move south and southwest in winter, but some actually migrate north to spend winters in the Great Lakes and southern Canada. Most of the Hooded Mergansers that breed in the upper Midwest migrate along the Mississippi River. Hooded Mergansers breeding west of the Rockies migrate west and south toward the Pacific. Hooded Mergansers are late fall migrants, sometimes moving just ahead of winter ice. In spring they arrive early at breeding grounds, within a few days of the ice melting.
Conservation
Hooded Mergansers are fairly common and their populations are stable and possibly increased between 1966 and 2015, according to the North American Breeding Bird Survey. The species rates a 9 out of 20 on the Continental Concern Score.
This info from Copyright © 2017 Cornell University
Want to Learn and Hear more click link below -
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Hooded_Merganser/overview
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