Red-Breasted Merganser

Day 109: Red-Breasted Merganser males are easy to distinguish from Common Mergansers, but the ladies...well, that's another story. The two identifying features birdwatchers use to tell Mergus serrator females from Mergus merganser are the shape of the bill and the patch of white beneath it. Red-Breasted Mergansers have a longer, thinner bill than those of their cousins, and the female's throat patch has indistinct edges as opposed to the sharply defined margins seen in female Common Mergansers. That said, it's equally difficult to tell young males from females. I am classifying this bird as a female based on the darkness of the area in front of the eye, but I could be wrong.

In birdwatching, the observer in the field must have a quick eye, a camera or both. When you are photographing birds for documentation purposes, you must try to include as many identification points as possible. These include such things as beak shape, presence of facial markings, and barring or spotting on wings, back or breast. Keep your field guides handy! Spring is on the rise!