How to Identify a Red-breasted Merganser (Mergus serrator)

• Head pattern: Male: dark metallic green head with a double-pointed shaggy crest, and a white neck collar above a reddish breast
• Body pattern: Male: reddish (dark red) breast and gray sides, not as white overall as Common Merganser
• Head pattern: Female: brown head with an orange bill, shaggy crest, and a variable white area on the chin and neck, showing less contrast than female Common Merganser
• Bill: Male and Female: slightly upward-curved thinner bill, versus the straighter bill of Common Merganser
• Habitat: Male and Female: far more frequently associated with brackish and saltwater coastal areas than Common Merganser

Red-breasted Merganser male has a notable double-pointed shaggy crest, reddish breast, and gray sides versus the crestless, white-breasted male Common Merganser; female Red-breasted shows a variable, less-defined white chin/throat area versus the sharply defined clean white chin patch of female Common Merganser The Common Merganser page lists its own marks.

Lakes and open water; coastal bays in winter Nests farther north than Common Merganser, across Alaska, northern Canada, Great Lakes, and New England; winters mostly on salt water

Nests mainly on the ground and winters mostly on salt water, unlike the cavity-nesting, freshwater-wintering Common Merganser

Shoot from water level if you can, with the sun behind you, so head pattern and the wing patch show their true colors. Get one frame with the bird side-on and one as it stretches or flaps, which exposes the speculum and belly. Note who it is swimming with; ducks flock by species. The app names the likely species; confirm with the marks above, and check the female separately, since females of many ducks look alike.