This week for Flora and Fauna Friday it’s our whistling, crested, creek duck: Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus).
Beneath the rushes a flash signals a distant splash upon the creek. A convoy of murky birds putter into view. Bright flags of untainted white painted on glistening coal-black flap and flare amidst more modest walnut wigs. Dingy gray and varnished chestnut trim these swimmer’s hulls. A golden glance cuts your way as unease ignites across the water. Explosive splashes and whistling wings send the murky birds off to collect upon another creek corner.
The Hooded Merganser is an average-sized duck that’s anything but average. Mergansers as a group are odd ducks. They’re one of many species diving duck, ducks who actively dive beneath the water to feed, yet they’re also piscivorous. In order for these ducks to catch fish, they’ve developed a long, thin, hooked bill with serrations, much like a Cormorant’s. Hooded Mergansers are extra odd when it comes to their appearance. Females are overly drab. Their plumage is a muddy walnut-brown across with only an orange lower lip for accent. Males on the other hand are quite the showstopper. Their flanks are a vibrant chestnut, belly snow-white, and back and head a pure, deep black. That back is streaked with scant but heavy white lines and their head bears a centurion’s crest filled with brilliant white that tapers to a shining topaz eye.
Hooded Mergansers are a common cold-weather sight throughout the tidal creeks and impoundments of Edisto Island. They’re rarely ever alone and usually in groups of up to two dozen. They can often be spotted repeatedly diving over deep pools in search of shrimp and fish. Hooded Mergansers are practically mute, issuing no quacks or grunts. However, in flight their wings release a steady pulsing whistle, just like a Wood Duck.
