BUFFLEHEAD DUCK SOUNDS PATCH

The oldest recorded Hooded Merganser was a male and at least 14 years, 6 months old when he was shot in Mississippi in 2009.The Hooded Merganser is the second-smallest of the six living species of mergansers (only the Smew of Eurasia is smaller) and is the only one restricted to North America.

BUFFLEHEAD DUCK SOUNDS PATCH

They have a glossy, greenish-black head with a large white patch on the back that looks like a bonnet. Males are mostly white with a black back. Males and females have different patterns and coloring. They grow to about 15 inches with a wingspan of 24 inches. They share many courtship behaviors and calls with both of those groups. The bufflehead has a small, chunky body, a short neck and a short, gray bill.

On the bird family tree, Hooded Mergansers (genus Lophodytes) lie between goldeneyes ( Bucephala) and the other North American mergansers ( Mergus).

In some cases they have to walk half a mile or more with their mother to the nearest body of water.

From inside the nest, the little fluffballs scramble up to the entrance hole and then flutter to the ground, which may be 50 feet or more below them. First, their mother checks the area around the nest and calls to the nestlings from ground level. Hooded Merganser ducklings leave their nest cavity within 24 hours of hatching.In addition, they have an extra eyelid, called a “nictitating membrane,” which is transparent and helps protect the eye during swimming, like a pair of goggles. They can actually change the refractive properties of their eyes to improve their underwater vision. Bufflehead Ducks Enjoy Early Spring on Puget Sound Bufflehead Ducks Enjoy Early Spring on Puget Sound bufflehead duck stock pictures, royalty-free photos & images. Find high-quality stock photos that you wont find anywhere else. Hooded Mergansers find their prey underwater by sight. Search from Bufflehead Duck stock photos, pictures and royalty-free images from iStock.Female Hooded Mergansers can lay up to about 13 eggs in a clutch, but nests have been found with up to 44 eggs in them. In turn, other cavity-nesting duck species will parasitize Hooded Merganser nests. This is called “brood parasitism” and is similar to the practice of Brown-headed Cowbirds. Similar to other cavity-nesting ducks such as Wood Ducks, Common Mergansers, and Common Goldeneyes, Hooded Mergansers often lay eggs in nests of other ducks, both their own species and others.

Bufflehead duck sounds