Red-breasted Merganser

Mergus serrator

The red-breasted merganser is a duck species that is native to much of the temperate to subarctic Northern Hemisphere. The red breast that gives the species its common name is only displayed by males in breeding plumage. Individuals fly rapidly, and feed by diving from the surface to pursue aquatic animals underwater, using serrated bills to capture slippery fish. They migrate each year from breeding sites on lakes and rivers to their mostly coastal wintering areas, making them the most frequent species in the genus Mergus to frequent saltwater regularly. The worldwide population of this species is stable, though it is threatened in some areas by habitat loss and other factors. Source

Where it is now

In the last 8 weeks this bird was recorded 2,439 times across 25 areas (each area is a 5 degree square).

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Movement and weather

Over the weeks it was present in the past year, its centre in Europe ranged from 60°N in November to 72°N in May, about 1,400 km apart.

Arrival dates

The week it was first heard regularly in each region, after at least six weeks away. Dates differ from south to north, so a region has a range.

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Figures are effort corrected and come from automatic sound identification, which makes mistakes. How this is measured and how it compares with human observers.