Maybe becoming not so rare. Here is an eBird breeding map for Hooded Merganser which shows reports from the front range of Colorado. https://ebird.org/science/status-and-trends/hoomer/range-map-breeding
These eBird maps for Hooded Merganser are interesting. Some hoodies spend the winter in Wyoming, others in southern states. Wyoming is a lot colder than southern states in the winter. Maybe there is a cold-loving subspecies. And a gravel reservoir sub-species? Tom Wilberding On Saturday, May 23, 2020 at 11:17:29 PM UTC-6, Tom Wilberding wrote: > > Hello birders, > > Yesterday afternoon Barb and I strolled three miles along Clear Creek > Trail in Jeffco near I-70, hoping to see a rare warbler, like the Mourning > Warbler photographed by James McCall on May 15. But most migrating > warblers, as you may have noticed, have already moved northward, except for > some Yellow Warblers in the process of nesting. > > > We were pleased to hear and see a couple of Spotted Sandpipers fluttering > along the bank, probably nest building. We noticed a few Mallards loafing > here and there. But then a strange sight: a female Merganser with two > chicks. Seemed to us very early for a duck with chicks, although there are > lots of Canada Geese goslings following their parents around in local parks. > > An expert birder friend pointed out that the merganser family was quite a > find. Not just early, but they’re not supposed to breed here, and certainly > not below a busy and vast construction site like the one on the south side > of Clear Creek. > > Per Cornell: “Hooded Mergansers breed in forested wetlands throughout the > eastern half of North America and the Pacific Northwest. They are most > common in forests around the Great Lakes.” > > Was this hoodie family a fluke, or are Hooded Mergansers staying in > Colorado to breed? I believe the state’s first documented breeding site > of the species was found at Quincy Farm at Cherry Creek last year. > Yesterday's > photo below. > > > Cheers, > Tom Wilberding > Littleton, CO > > [image: _V6A5164.jpg] > > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/58ae2fd3-8730-4226-b8eb-6f453f419b1f%40googlegroups.com.
