Hi Sheila,
Yes, Red-breasted Mergs are migrants and breed much farther north of us here.
Common Mergansers breed here commonly! It is a bit hard to tell the females
apart, but female Red-breasteds are much more slender (Sibley says more
"spindly) with thin bills, and more wispy crests. They also lack the Common
female's whitish throat. Commons are much heavier bodied birds, with thicker
bills.
Marie
Marie Read Wildlife Photography
452 Ringwood Road
Freeville NY 13068 USA
Phone 607-539-6608
e-mail m...@cornell.edu
Website: http://www.marieread.com
Follow me on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/Marie-Read-Wildlife-Photography-104356136271727/
From: bounce-121534501-5851...@list.cornell.edu
[bounce-121534501-5851...@list.cornell.edu] on behalf of Sheila Ann Dean
[shade...@gmail.com]
Sent: Tuesday, May 16, 2017 1:25 PM
To: CAYUGABIRDS-L
Subject: [cayugabirds-l] Question on merganser
Yesterday at Monkey Run I saw a merganser with babies on her back. She sure
looked like a red-throated, but aren't they migrants? Perhaps she was too low
in the water to see the white, but she also had quite a crest. Unfortunately I
startled her, and she seemed to not be able to swim away fast enough with her
baby burden, so she dumped them, took off at a brisk clip, tsk, tsk, tsking for
her brood to follow. They would all catch up, climb back on, and then she
dumped them again to swim farther. This went on several times until it seemed
she felt they'd escaped danger.
I also saw a scarlet tanager, and heard a white-throated sparrow on the upland
part of the trail (south side of Fall Creek). Near the water saw an American
redstart, a Blackburnian warbler, rose-breasted grosbeak, Canada geese. And
distant hawk, blue jay, and goldfinches. I'm sure there was tons more there,
but I'm a beginner, and had to get back to work.
Sheila
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Sheila Ann Dean
Natural Selection Editing and Research
1415 Slaterville Road (temporary)
Ithaca, NY 14850
USA
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