122422. Muskogee Edition, Birding Today

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Oklahoma Winter Bird Profile: Red-breasted Merganser

These thin, long-bodied ducks with the thin red bill and shaggy crest are definitely something to be seen.  They are found in small groups and will be observed in salt water in both sheltered coasts and bays.  They are less common inland, but will certainly make exceptions.

These birds are very similar to the Common Merganser who nests in cavities and favors fresh water.  These fish eaters are known as sawbills, as they are so equipped.  The most widespread of all the mergansers, this sexually dimorphic duck is a strong flyer, easily capable of reaching speeds of eighty miles per hour.  Unless it is breeding, it will be usually found at sea both inshore and well offshore.

This late breeder may not have fledged young until September, and it first breeds at the age of two, a notoriously late breeder.  Females incubate as the males tend to leave for points unknown in order to molt.  The species breeds further north and winters further south than the other species of mergansers.

                                                             Red-breasted Mergansers
                                                              Boomer Lake Park, 2017

Generally silent, during breeding times they have usually been found grunting and croaking.

Like the Common Merganser, these diving ducks will herd fish and drive them inland to have an easier time foraging.  They also hunt collectively.

Oklahoma Winter Bird Profile: Redhead

Round-headed with a gray-blue bill, a breeding male has an iridescent cinnamon head with a gray body and dark breast.  The non-breeding male is a little more subdued, but the yellow eye will always give away his identity.  The female is a plain, soft brown and the bill will give her away if no male is present.

These are common diving ducks that spend winters in Oklahoma and they tend to tolerate more shallow water than many of the diving breeds.  Most of the population winters in the Laguna Madres of Texas and Mexico, with a smaller group in Apalachee Bay, Florida with a few on the Chandeleur Islands off Baja Mexico, the Yucatan, and the Atlantic coastal region from the Mid Atlantic states southward.

These medium sized red-headed ducks have a steep forehead where the bill meets the head at a steep angle.  They can easily be located in the prairie potholes of the northern Great Plains and intermountain western marshes during breeding season.  These are common brood parasites with the female laying her eggs in the nests of many breeds, oddly even including the Northern Harrier.  Noted in the video is a courtship display where the male will pull his head backward and snap it forward, giving a call reminiscent of a cat.

                                                                       Redheads
                                                             South Padre Island, 2017

Flying faster than most ducks with a shallow and rapid wingbeat, they also fly in an erratic manner.  Gregarious by nature, they will feed with other ducks, even having been known to fly to and land beside decoys.  The red-headed pochards favor grains, grasses and select water insects, mollusks, and small fish.

Birds of the Sea: Common Goldeneye

Smaller flocks as well as gathering in numbers, the Common Goldeneye winters on bays, open lakes, and rivers.  Another cavity nester, the species dives for fish, insects, crustaceans, and mollusks.  They have also been known to use the same nest cavity over the years.

The species has a tall, peaked head, a round cheek patch, and the plumage patterns for the males show its coloration to be mostly white while it visits in the winter.  The female will have a mostly black bill.

A Boreal breeder, this duck can be seen wintering over the better part of the US.  A medium sized sea duck, its Latin name means "bull head," having a similar head shape to the Bufflehead.

Where nest boxes have been offered, there are population increases.  Far more prolific than Barrow's Goldeneye, the Common Goldeneye is a speedy flier known as "whistler," as its wings sound off.  They fly in small compact clusters when they are on the wing.

                                                                Common Goldeneyes
                                                             Boomer Lake Park, 2017

These diving ducks forage solely under water and first breed at the age of two.  However, first year females are on the hunt for nest sites in early summer.  Pair formation usually occurs in later winter, and several males will court the same female, much like the more common Bufflehead.  They perform many of the same rituals, including head pumps, exaggerated takeoffs and landings, etc.

It is suspected that climate change will take its toll upon breeding ranges, making them shrink as well as expanding winter ranges even more.  This cold-hardy migratory bird is aggressive and territorial, and will be highly competitive with food and nest sites.  Their breeding postures indicate the same type of behavior.

Oklahoma Migratory Species Profile: Common Merganser

This merganser is often confused with the Red-breasted Merganser, but is it heavier and has a thicker bill.  The non-breeding adult also has a very contrasting white patch under the chin and at the throat.  In flight, it also shows more body white.

A large duck of mountains, lakes, and rivers, the Common Merganser is a tree, under tree root, nest box, or crevice nester that eats fish or other invertebrates.  They commonly will form a semicircle, forcing fish into the shallower water, making it easier to capture them.  These elegant birds are striking, with an unusual appearance that gives them a name for bad hair days.  They tend to sit low in the water, and besides the attractive colors, they have a serrated bill that they use for holding onto assorted seafood.  These diving ducks will winter as far south as Mexico, and at one time or another spend some of their time within the US keeping away from waters that freeze.




               Common Merganser in Cardiff
                           123rf.com

The male will abandon the family once the young hatch, and the female will stay with them for about a week after they fledge.  There is a photo on the internet that shows a female Common Merganser with 76 young, but most of these were adopted or just temporarily in her care.  A hen will lay up to a dozen or so eggs.  These birds utilize a creche system, which is basically a day care center where a matriarchal female is in charge of overseeing the young.  The sawbill becomes sexually mature at two years of age.

This species is climate threatened, and like many others are expanding their range in a northeasterly direction.

These ducks have been known to swallow large fish nearly a foot in length, and in the winter, these ducks can form large rafts.  They don't move well on land, but when forced to run from a predator, they often take an upright position.

Oklahoma Winter Bird Profile: Ring-necked Duck

A common winter bird of Oklahoma, the Ring-necked Duck winters on lakes, rivers, ponds, yet very rarely on salt water.  A breeder of the northeast, Boreal Forest, around the Great Lakes, and along western mountains, this striking duck is best identified by the crown at the peak of the head and the ring around the bill.  The male's coloring is also very handsome.  The female has a distinctive white eye ring and a strip at the facial end of the bill.  She is various shades of brown with a gray face.

This diving duck is gregarious and will mix with many other diving ducks on wintering lakes.  Many times they will be observed with scaups.  They will fly directly up from the water without having to get that running start like many other diving ducks.

male Ring-necked Duck

Boomer Lake Park, 2015

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These are the likeliest of North American ducks to ingest lead shot from the bottom of wetlands, making them very susceptible to lead poisoning.  This is another reason to advocate the eradication of lead shot, as it has a strong effect on our diving duck population.  However it is difficult to remove what has already been deposited in the waterways. 

The ring around its neck is almost never seen.  It is a faint brownish band around the base of the neck, likely seen most commonly by duck hunters.

Pair formation begins in winter.  The pulling back and thrusting forward of the head and rapid nodding of the head will be noted during this time, directed at females of the species.

Climate change predictions indicate that this bird will winter over most of the continental US and breeding areas will be heading in a northerly direction.

This small- to medium-sized diver has an apparent white wedge shaped coloration at the shoulder, which is readily visible while the bird is in flight.

Some of these neotropical migrants will go to Central America and the northern Caribbean.