In our neck of the woods... Hooded Mergansers

I recently hiked to the nearest cove of the lake to photograph wildlife. Several hooded mergansers were there, swimming about and diving underwater to hunt. In my opinion, hooded mergansers are among our most beautiful ducks. This first photo is a drake (a male) I saw:

Mergansers are mainly fish eaters, and they dive underwater to catch small fish, crayfish, and other aquatic animals with their long, narrow bill, which has sharp serrations to grip their prey.
Hooded mergansers nest in cavities in trees rather than on the ground like many other ducks do. Only one day after hatching, all 7 to 15 of the tiny ducklings leap from the cavity all the way to the forest floor. Then the mother merganser leads them to the nearest body of water.

In order for this to work, all the eggs must hatch on the same day. So, the mother waits until she has laid all of her eggs before she starts incubating them. This results in synchronous hatching.

Like many ducks, hooded mergansers have extreme sexual dimorphism—the males and females look very different. In this photo, you can see the differences between two females and one male. Cool, huh?

Photo credits:
Hooded mergansers - Stan C. Smith