Merganser Courtship

With the return of the colder weather, we’ve also seen the return of the Hooded Mergansers to the pond.

Mergansers do not take life partners, but are monogamous during the breeding season. They pair up in the winter and remain a pair until the hen begins incubating eggs in her abdomen. At that time, the male leaves, which seems to be a common behavior among ducks.

Last week there were six or more Mergansers on the pond. The males were in full courtship display. The sun was not quite directly behind the ducks, so it shone through their crests, both male and female.

The down side, was that their faces and other dark areas were not particularly well-lit.

However, any downside was offset by the males’ performances.

This is the full courtship pose of the male. It rears back, touches its back with its crest and emits a very strange, low croak. Almost as if its saying (with a vocal fry) a long drawn out “helloooo babeeeeee.”

When not rearing back, they keep their crests as high as possible.

Most of the time there was quite a confusion of males and females, but I like that they got themselves nicely in a row for this shot.

Let me know what you like about the pictures!

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