Birds of Inwood

On the morning of Sunday, January 14, 2024, a male Red-breasted Merganser was floating along the banks of the Salt Marsh and trying to get some rest. Nearby was a group of Mallards that occasionally quacked. 

The Merganser is usually seen with its partner, often in the nearby Muscota Marsh, but this morning it was by itself, except for the Mallards.   

I was thinking how cold the water must be for the merganser, but this is a duck accustomed to much colder climates. Its range includes places such as Alaska, Labrador, and Maine, and it winters along the coast. It makes sense that this one probably comes from Maine and has flown down to fish in the salty waters of our local Salt Marsh.

This Red-breasted Merganser has a long red bill that makes fishing efficient in its long water dives. Also called a “sawbill,” the duck has small serrated tooth-like projections on its bill that make catching fish easier. They need to eat a lot, something in the range of 15-20 fish a day. (Source: All About Birds guide on the Red-breasted Merganser from the Cornell Lab) 

Part of the fun when following mergansers is that they will disappear under water for a long time and then pop up somewhere far away. These dives make them rather elusive for observation, so it was a rare treat on Sunday to encounter a sleepy merganser close to the shore. Another fascinating fact about these birds is that they are among the fastest fliers, clocking speeds around 81 miles an hour (see Cornell source on their life history).

This is a fancy-looking duck with remarkable features, patterns, and colors. It sports a reddish brown breast, a white neck, and a raggedy crest on top of its deep green head. Look at those red eyes! Its main body feathers are startlingly black and white, with many patterned in an OpArt effect of wavy black-and-white striped swirls. I was immediately drawn to exploring it more in my sketchbook.

Cover: Red-breasted Merganser in the Salt Marsh, Inwood Hill Park. January 14, 2024.

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