Sawbills – and Call for Help

Greetings everyone! Good news, Brad and Jan have checked in and all appears to be going well on their current trip into the field. Luckily I had several years of Spanish so I could translate their message. Although at the ready, we will hold off on sending our lawyers guns and money. Not much really to relay from the Intrigued HQ beyond a personal highlight of getting in my first 7 miles road run since the ankle surgery. Not pretty by any means, but it means the hard work is finally paying off and on the trajectory to the end of the year 100 miler goal (crap, did I say that out loud – forget you saw that).

I do need some help from my birding friends familiar with the Northwest. The Canine Performance Events Agility Nationals are being held in Auburn, Washington at the end of May and I am looking for advice on good places to bird in the area. This is my first time visiting there in non-official work capacity and want to make the most of the birding opportunity. We are still planning our route, but it looks like the southern trek through Wyoming-Utah-Idaho-Oregon-Washington out and then across Washington-Montana-North Dakota-Minnesota back in order to catch Glacier NP. Any recommendations are welcome, but the Oregon/Washington hotspots are my main focus right now as that is the biggest opportunity for lifers for the trip. If you have some, feel free to drop those in the comments or I can send you out my email address if you prefer a more direct communication. Thanks in advance!!

Let’s not keep you waiting any longer and get you right to today’s featured feathered friend.

Quite the splash of color on this specimen eh? Hit the jump to learn more about our thin-bill waterfowl.

I had to go back and look in the archives to see if I had ever featured this species here before. I did end up finding one post back in May 2016 when one showed up about an hour’s drive from us as it was late on its migration north to Canada and Alaska for the frisky months. I will NOT be linking to that post, but you can find it if you are interested. I remember giving a talk to the local Audubon chapter on wildlife blogging and covering personal benefits it can bring. There is a reason I tend to give an update on current events in the opening of my posts as it serves as a recount (don’t you dare say diary ha) of a good chunk of your life – in my case 19 years and counting – should the memory start to leak. Secondly, it is one of the most tangible ways to measure your growth as a photographer. I can say with absolute confidence those early years were cringe. Some improvement, plenty more to learn.

The sightings in my home state can be sparse, but if you get the chance to make your way to the coasts, you should have plenty of opportunity to encounter the Red-Breasted Merganser. The Common Merganser is far more ubiquitous across the US and have to say, more than surprised to see its range extending across the more northern countries around the globe. In contrast, the Reds spend their nonbreeding season right on the US coastlines (Atlantic, Pacific and the Gulf) with some push further down into the Central America coasts. Then they get lust in their eyes and blitzkrieg all across the US on the way north to make more in the wetlands of the Boreal Forests.

The Reds and the Commons do cross regions with the exception of the southeast where the Commons are less likely to wander. This turns out to be a good thing when we are on our migration to Texas – see a Merganser down there and you will most assuredly profit if you put your savings on red at the birding roulette table. This particular series was taken while at the North Jetty on Bolivar Peninsula, Texas and true to prediction.. this is a male Red-Breasted.

In the US, there are three species of Merganser in the Anatidae family – this Red-Breasted, the mentioned Common and the third being the Hooded. Honestly, you will have little problem picking out the Hooded with that fantail headwear (link here). The Reds and the Commons can be a little harder to separate – especially the ladies. They both have somewhat thin and upturned bills which will quickly get you in the Merganser family. Starting with the males, they have a similar color palette from the deep greens on the heads to black/greys on the wings, but it is the degree of white and the addition of brown hues that help get them ID’d correctly. The Reds have the browns and tans mixed in down the necks/sides and more visible when paddling, the sides of Reds are stippled/lined where the Commons will be solid white. If you get a decent look at their heads you will notice the Reds have a shaggy mane versus the smoother ‘do of the Commons.

Females get a little trickier since they both adorn themselves in brown and gray hues. They also both tend to have a shaggy mane so that aid goes right out the door. The key is the whites – more specifically the whites on the neck and face. The Commons will have a sharp line where the browns change over to white on the neck. Red females will have a more gradual transition before shifting into the greys on the rest of the body. Another potential key is the Common females have a white patch on their cheeks/under-chin. Spot that and quickly change your bet off red before the croupier rudely dispenses with your bet.

To be complete, Reds do prefer saltwater more than the Commons so a quick taste of the water may help you out there as well.

Out of shots, so how about we finish up with some interesting tidbits from Cornell and get you on your way. Merganser is basically Latin translated for Plunging Goose. Red-Breasted Mergansers are also call Sawbills due to their “thin bill with tiny serrations on it that it uses to keep hold of slippery fish”. Curious, I did some further research and confirmed the Commons (and Hoods) also have the serrations so I am thinking that name refers to Mergansers in general. Something more unique to the Reds is they do not get their full breeding plumage until two years where the Commons develop that in their first year.

Will wrap it up there. Take care everyone and again, any help on birding the northwest would be a tremendous help!