Goosander

Green list

Mergus merganser

A large, sleek sawbill duck — a fish-hunter with a long, serrated red bill.

Sawbill · 12,000 breeding pairs (UK)

Measurements

In most ducks the male (drake) and female (hen) look quite different. Study both to identify any bird.

Photos: Chuck Homler d/b/a Focus On Wildlife · CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Almost entirely fish — salmon parr, trout, minnows — caught in underwater pursuit.

Diving (disappears fully underwater) Large (eider-sized, 55–65 cm)

Fast-flowing rivers and upland lakes; coastal in winter.

Nests in tree holes and rock crevices along upland rivers.

UK birds disperse to coasts and larger lakes in winter.

Generally quiet; males give low croaks during display.

Compare with close relatives.

Mergus serrator

A slim, fast-flying coastal sawbill with a shaggy crest, more at home on the sea than the goosander.

Mergellus albellus

A petite, striking black-and-white sawbill — the "white nun" — that visits our lakes in hard winters.