Hooded Merganser

These birds tend to be very common in the Great Lakes region of the United States, but can be found throughout the whole country residing in forests of all kinds (spruce-fir in the Northwest, pine-hardwood in the Midwest, oak-cypress-tupelo in the Southeast). During the summer, they are commonly found in freshwater ponds and rivers and nest in tree cavities. In the winter, they will migrate towards larger bodies of water.

In Illinois, hooded merganser can be spotted throughout the whole state during their migration season - as the state is in path of the Mississippi flyway. Come winter, these waterfowl are less common, and reside towards the lower third of Illinois (“Hooded Merganser”, Illinois DNR).

Hooded Mergansers can be found in the Lincoln Park Zoo! Occasionally, at the Hope B. McCormick Swan Pond in the Lincoln Park Zoo, guests can find this bird with other wildlife. Other areas this bird can be found is North Pond in Lincoln Park, Chicago River system, and forest preserves in Cook County.

These migratory birds display courtship behaviors - behaviors exhibited to attract members of the opposite sex. They tend to nest in tree cavities that are between 10 to 50 feet off the ground, incubating their eggs for around 33 days (“Hooded Merganser”, Lincoln Park Zoo). Interestingly enough, these birds engage in brood parasitism - where the females will lay their eggs in the nest of other hooded mergansers, so they take care of their young (“Hooded Merganser”, Lincoln Park Zoo). Once the young hatch, they all leave the nest within the first day. Like most duck species, the hatchlings will follow alongside their mom, learning innate behaviors along the way.

Once old enough, hooded mergansers will begin to hunt for underwater critters and fish. Their diets consists of: aquatic insects, shrimp, crayfish, and small fish (“Hooded Merganser”, All About Birds). Because of the nictitating membrane - a translucent membrane that acts like swim googles - and ability to change the refracting properties in their eyes, they can spot their prey underwater (“Hooded Merganser”, All About Birds).

In total, there are three species of mergansers that are native/natural to Illinois: Hooded merganser, common merganser, and red-breasted merganser (DeVore). The hooded merganser is the smallest of the three. Unfortunately, all three species can be hunted in Illinois, with varying restrictions throughout the state.

In the early twentieth century, hooded mergansers were overhunted, which lead to a massive reduction in their population ("Hooded Merganser", All About Birds). This has decreased since then, as the species is federally protected in some states and provinces in the United States and Canada. Additional to hunting, a lot of their habitat was cut down and cleared by human activities - which lead to an reduction in their population, reduction in breeding grounds, and reduction in range ("Hooded Merganser" All About Birds). Since then, their populations have stabilized and are of low conservation concern.

There is an upcoming concern in some areas, as these birds are growing to become a "nuisance". Fish farms through the North American continent (Mexico excluded), have been finding these birds to be a nuisance or pest as they use these farms as feeding grounds. While these birds are federally protected in some areas, and hunted in others, people have resorted to use preventative measures to turn away hooded merganser flocks, such as: farms enclosed with wire/net, scaring audio or visual devices, or ordered removals (Dickie).

As there are currently no wildlife concerns regarding hooded mergansers, they can be expected to continue to thrive. Current laws about their hunting vary from state to state, in which Illinois has a "daily bag limit of mergansers is five, only two of which may be hooded mergansers" ("Press Release" 2023). Given this, I expect hooded mergansers to continue about their normal lives, the only speculation I have is there may be further issues with fish farms. For now, the "frog ducks" are safe.