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Mergus
''Mergus'' is the genus of the typical mergansers ( ) fish-eating ducks in the subfamily Anatinae. The genus name is a Latin word used by Pliny the Elder and other Ancient Rome, Roman authors to refer to an unspecified waterbird. The common merganser (''Mergus merganser'') and red-breasted merganser (''M. serrator'') have broad ranges in the northern hemisphere. The Brazilian merganser (''M. octosetaceus'') is a South American duck, and one of the six most Threatened species, threatened waterfowl in the world, with possibly fewer than 250 birds in the wild. The scaly-sided merganser or "Chinese merganser" (''M. squamatus'') is an endangered species. It lives in temperate East Asia, breeding in the north and wintering in the south. The hooded merganser (''Lophodytes cucullatus'', formerly known as ''Mergus cucullatus'') is not of this genus but is closely related. The other "aberrant" merganser, the smew (''Mergellus albellus''), is phylogenetics, phylogenetically closer to golde ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Common Merganser
The common merganser (North American) or goosander (Eurasian) (''Mergus merganser'') is a large sea duck of rivers and lakes in forested areas of Europe, Asia, and North America. The common merganser eats mainly fish. It nests in holes in trees. Taxonomy The first formal description of the common merganser was written by Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the 10th edition of his ''Systema Naturae''. He introduced the current binomial name ''Mergus merganser''. The genus name is a Latin word used by Pliny and other Roman authors to refer to an unspecified waterbird, and ''merganser'' is derived from ''mergus'' and ''anser'', Latin for "goose". In 1843 John James Audubon used the name "Buff-breasted Merganser" in addition to "goosander" in his book '' The Birds of America''. The three subspecies differ in only minor detail: Description It is long with a wingspan and a weight of ; males are on average slightly larger than females, but with some overlap. Like othe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Red-breasted Merganser
The red-breasted merganser (''Mergus serrator'') is a duck species that is native to much of the 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 only species in the genus '' Mergus'' to frequent saltwater. They form flocks outside of breeding season that are usually small but can reach 100 individuals. The worldwide population of this species is stable, though it is threatened in some areas by habitat loss and other factors. Taxonomy The red-breasted merganser was formally described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his ''Systema Naturae'' under the current binomial name ''Mergus serrator''. The genu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mergus Serrator
The red-breasted merganser (''Mergus serrator'') is a duck species that is native to much of the 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 only species in the genus ''Mergus'' to frequent saltwater. They form flocks outside of breeding season that are usually small but can reach 100 individuals. The worldwide population of this species is stable, though it is threatened in some areas by habitat loss and other factors. Taxonomy The red-breasted merganser was formally described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his ''Systema Naturae'' under the current binomial name ''Mergus serrator''. The genus nam ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scaly-sided Merganser
The scaly-sided merganser or Chinese merganser (''Mergus squamatus'') is an endangered typical merganser (genus ''Mergus''). It lives in Manchuria and extreme Southeast Siberia, breeding in the north and wintering in the south. Description This striking sea duck has a thin red bill and a scaled dark pattern on the flanks and rump. Both sexes have a crest of wispy elongated feathers, reaching almost to the shoulders in adult males and being fairly short in females and immatures. The adult male has a black head and neck, white breast and underparts, and blackish mantle and wings, except for the white innerwings. The scaling is also black, while the tail is medium grey. The female has a buffish head and otherwise replaces the male's black with grey colour. The legs are orange-red and the irides dark brown in both sexes. Ecology Their breeding habitat is rivers in primary forest in the southeastern Russian Far East, perhaps in North Korea, and in two locations Changbai Mountains ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brazilian Merganser
The Brazilian merganser (''Mergus octosetaceus'') is a South American diving duck in the ''Mergus'' genus. It is one of the most threatened waterfowl species in the world, with possibly fewer than 250 birds in the wild and a small number kept in captivity in Brazil and Czechia. It has a long, sharp-edged beak with a great number of tooth-like edges. Description This merganser is a dark, slender duck with a shiny dark-green hood with a long crest, which is usually shorter and more worn-looking in females. Upperparts are dark grey while the breast is light grey, getting paler toward the whitish belly, and a white speculum is particularly noticeable in flight. It has a long thin jagged black bill with red feet and legs. Although females are smaller with a shorter bill and crest, both sexes are alike in color. The slender ducks range in size from as an adult. Young Brazilian mergansers are mainly black with white throat and breast. The Brazilian mergansers are generally si ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New Zealand Merganser
The Auckland Island merganser (''Mergus australis'') (), also known as the New Zealand merganser, is an Bird extinction, extinct species of Mergus, typical merganser. Description This duck was similar in size to the red-breasted merganser (''Mergus serrator''). The adult male had a dark reddish-brown head, crest and neck, with bluish black mantle and tail and slate grey wings. The female was slightly smaller with a shorter crest. History The Auckland Island merganser was known from the Auckland Islands archipelago, part of the New Zealand Subantarctic Islands. The only historical records are from Auckland Island and Adams Island (New Zealand), Adams Island. Holocene bones were found on Enderby Island.Miskelly, Colin & Forsdick, Natalie & Gill, Brian & Palma, Ricardo & Rawlence, Nicolas & Tennyson, Alan. (2022). CHECKLIST OF THE BIRDS OF NEW ZEALAND. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/361824003_CHECKLIST_OF_THE_BIRDS_OF_NEW_ZEALAND The last specimens were apparently a p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
