Red-breasted Merganser; Late March Spring Migration through Northern Illinois

Red-breasted Merganser, Lincoln Park, Chicago, IL; 10/30/2010

Another diving duck that migrates through northern Illinois during the great spring migration is the Red-breasted Merganser. During the winter this duck can be found along all the saltwater coastal states of the Atlantic, the Gulf and the Pacific. It will spend its summers in northen Canada and Alaska. To get there, they need to cross through Illinois, but since they prefer saltwater over fresh water, they don't stay long. So it is not easy to spot these Mergansers on their northward trek. I haven't yet seen any in the Rockford area, but last fall I did see a few in the South Pond of Lincoln Park in Chicago. Unfortunately, by that time they already lost their breeding plumage, which is very beautiful with a black head with a shaggy crest and bright red bill, gray flanks with black and white wings and reddish brown breast (Below courtesy of Marie Read). In their non breeding plumage (Above) their head becomes tannish brown and their wings are less dramatic, but they keep their crest. A flock of these Mergansers are known as a "brace", "flush", "paddling", "raft", and "team" of ducks.

A Red-breasted Merganser in its breeding plumage. Photo courtesy of http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-breasted_Merganser/id & Marie Read.