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FAUNA: The Hoodies

by Mary Parker Sonis

January has arrived, and after the joy of the holidays, we all settle in for the grim, dark days of winter. These are the chilling, dank days that make children balk at getting up for school and lure busy adults to linger over their morning papers and coffee. I have always admired the runners of Carrboro who brave the dreary, gray early hours for their morning runs.

I have no desire to put on running shoes and hit the pavement. My own winter exercise does not include a brisk walk. In January, I haul myself into chest-high waders and plan a morning of skulking in the wetlands. You see, the “hoodies” have arrived – and I’m not talking about apparel. I’m talking about ducks.

The hooded mergansers are in their finest breeding plumage in January. During the summer months, the hooded merganser male is cloaked in its “eclipse” plumage. It looks rather non-descript in its charcoal brown feathers and doesn’t attract a great deal of attention. But just when the wetlands are at their dimmest, these exquisite birds are readying for their breeding season.

A male hooded merganser heads to safety among fallen branches. Photo by Mary Parker Sonis

The hooded merganser is probably one of our most vivid ducks. The hood is a large feather crest that can be fanned open to reveal a brilliant white center against a black head with iridescent yellow eyes. The chest has dramatic stripes of white and black against rufous-brown sides. The back is ink black with white stripes toward the tail.

During breeding displays, the male hooded merganser dances along the water and opens his fan to attract a mate. He also fans his hood when alarmed by predators – or intruders. These are exceptionally wary birds that take flight almost immediately if they see a human, so you’ll need to nestle your camo-clad self in the mud and reeds and wait quietly. When you’re noticed – and you will be noticed – the hooded merganser will fly off immediately at speeds of up to 50 miles per hour.

There is a certain allure to the misery of photographing ducks in the winter. Most often, we scare the ducks off before we get close enough for a decent photo. But just as runners will regale you with stories of the icy-cold rain they endured during a marathon, the waterfowl enthusiast embraces mornings of bone-chilling wet and cold, all for the sake of a glimpse of a bufflehead, wood duck or hooded merganser. Just as in running, dang it – you’re going to work to have fun!

I relish that grand moment. You’ve been waiting behind a tree for 30 minutes. You’ve been punished for wearing the polar fleece that holds onto thorns so efficiently, and you’re standing in knee-deep muck. You saw the duck slipping into a stand of cattails in the distance, and you’re betting that he will emerge from the reeds for some open-water swimming.

Is he fishing out there, using that serrated blade of a bill to hang onto his prey? Is he merely hiding? Or is he courting a female in some tiny hidden bit of open water? You wait … and you sometimes get lucky.

For all this talk of winter adversity, you may find it very easy to locate hooded mergansers. They find quite agreeable any ice-free pond or waterway that has plenty of crayfish and fish.

The wood duck and the hooded merganser often share territories. Both of these ducks are cavity nesters and will use the wood duck nesting boxes that have been mounted near many of our local bodies of water. If you see a habitat with plenty of dead trees in the water, you may be in a fine spot for waterfowl viewing in winter. The pond in your backyard might also be an attractive set-down spot for these small winter plumed ducks. You can check out our local waterfowl impoundments, Jordan Lake and University Lake, to observe many of our local ducks and geese.

If you’re interested in identifying the female hooded merganser, simply look for the duck with the rust-brown mohawk as a crest. She will be in close proximity to her flashy mate. The female hooded merganser does all the brooding for the pair, and she will often make her nest in some abandoned redheaded woodpecker cavity or in an available nest box.

The female uses twigs, plant debris and down (plucked from her chest) to line the cavity. These cavities can be up to 60 feet in the air. Incubation takes approximately four weeks, but the young ducklings will only spend the first 24 to 48 hours in the nest. They are introduced almost immediately to the water, where they will spend the next 10 weeks with their mother, foraging for insects and aquatic life such as crayfish.

I find it interesting that the young hooded mergansers can tumble down from their cavities from a height of 60 feet and suffer no ill effects.

The short time in the nest is advantageous, because the ducklings are most vulnerable to predation while in the cavity. Black rat snakes are excellent swimmers and tree climbers and are known to eat entire clutches of eggs or nestlings. Eggs and ducklings are also vulnerable to attacks by owls, raccoons and foxes, while adult ducks are prized by duck hunters because they make beautiful mounts. It’s no wonder that the hooded merganser is such a wary creature.

For all that, the arrival of the winter ducks make this the perfect time for that long put-off visit to your local swamp or beaver pond. The mosquitoes, ticks and chiggers are never a problem in January, and you’ll feel virtuous for simply wandering around in the open air on a cold January day. You may find yourself hooked on winter birding.

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