Red-breasted merganser
Mergus serrator Linnaeus, 1758
The red-breasted merganser (Mergus serrator) is a bird in the waterfowl subgroup, belonging to the family Anatidae in the order Anseriformes. It is a medium-sized bird with an adult body mass from 908 g to 1.135 kg, a representative weight of 1.015 kg and a wingspan of 87 cm.
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Quick facts about the red-breasted merganser
This migratory, aquatic species is a carnivore and aquatic predator that uses wetland habitat across a geographic range of 23,630,000 km². It has 1 clutch per year with 9.1 per clutch, eggs incubate for 31.75 days, and it is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, not a threatened category.
- Weight
- 908 g – 1.14 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Wingspan
- 87 cmsrc for Wingspan
- Lifespan
- 9.33 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Aquatic predatorsrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 21.3 years
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- wetlandsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 31.8 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 9.1src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 24 monthssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1src for Litters or clutches a year
- Lifestyle
- Aquaticsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Migratorysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the red-breasted merganser?
Photos of the red-breasted merganser
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
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Where does the red-breasted merganser live?
Not recorded
What is the red-breasted merganser?
The red-breasted merganser (Mergus serrator) is a duck species that is native to much of the temperate to subarctic Northern Hemisphere. The red breast that gives the species its common name is only displayed by males in breeding plumage. Individuals fly rapidly, and feed by diving from the surface to pursue aquatic animals underwater, using serrated bills to capture slippery fish. They migrate each year from breeding sites on lakes and rivers to their mostly coastal wintering areas, making them the most frequent species in the genus Mergus to frequent saltwater regularly. The worldwide population of this species is stable, though it is threatened in some areas by habitat loss and other factors.
From the Wikipedia article “Red-breasted merganser” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Red-breasted_merganser&oldid=1384167632), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
What does the red-breasted merganser sound like?
Is the red-breasted merganser endangered?
The red-breasted merganser is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species. What the categories mean.
How is the red-breasted merganser classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderAnseriformes
- familyAnatidae
- genusMergus
- SpeciesMergus serrator Linnaeus, 1758
Synonyms Merganser serrator, Mergus castor, Mergus epaumopherus, Mergus rubecula, Mergus serrator major, Mergus serrator schioleri, Mergus serrator serrator
Other names and names in other languages (114)
- Fishing duckEnglish
- Red-breast merganserEnglish
- بلقشة حمراء الصدرArabic
- بطة غواصة حمراء الصدرArabic
- Mergo meyanoAragonese
- merguyuAsturian
- Coríu SierraAsturian
- Uzunburun pazdimdikAzerbaijani
- ҠушыBashkir
- Даўганосы савукBelarusian
- Даўгадзюбы крахальBelarusian
- Крахаль даўгадзюбыBelarusian
- Среден нирецBulgarian
- লালবুক ডুবুরি হাঁসBangla
- Heskenneg kuchBreton
- bec de serra mitjàCatalan
- Вӑтам крохальChuvash
- morčák prostředníCzech
- MùcnicaKashubian
- Hwyaid BrongochWelsh
- hwyaden frongochWelsh
- toppet skalleslugerDanish
- MittelsägerGerman
- ΘαλασσοπρίστηςGreek
- ΘαλασσοβουττηκτήςGreek
- mezgranda merĝoEsperanto
- Mergo copetónSpanish
- Mergansa PechirojaSpanish
- Mergansa piquilargaSpanish
- Serreta medianaSpanish
- rohukoskelEstonian
- Zerra ertainBasque
- Zerra ertainaBasque
- مرگوس کاکلیPersian
- اردک ماهیخوار کاکلیPersian
- tukkakoskeloFinnish
- ToppontFaroese
- Harle huppéFrench
- bec-scie à poitrine rousseFrench
- Bûnte SeachbekWestern Frisian
- GairgIrish
- síolta ruaScottish Gaelic
- sìolta dheargScottish Gaelic
- sìoltaidhean deargaScottish Gaelic
- Mergo cristadoGalician
- Sheeltey yiargManx
- Thunnag Cleeau YiargManx
- Kanna fal woujHaitian Creole
- מרגון בינוניHebrew
- mali ronacCroatian
- örvös bukóHungarian
- Բադ սղոցակտուցArmenian
- ToppöndIcelandic
- smergo minoreItalian
- ウミアイサJapanese
- გრძელნისკარტაGeorgian
- paaqKalaallisut
- Miteq siorartooqKalaallisut
- nujalikKalaallisut
- Орта сусkjn
- Секпілтєс бейнарықKazakh
- Секпілтөс бейнарықKazakh
- 바다비오리Korean
- Sedhor brongoughCornish
- MëttelseeërLuxembourgish
- vidutinis dančiasnapisLithuanian
- garknābja gauraLatvian
- Среден потопникMacedonian
- среден северен нуркачMacedonian
- SerraMaltese
- Сэвгэр бохиоMongolian
- कुमथोप्ले मणितुण्डकNepali
- middelste zaagbekDutch
- silandNorwegian
- ᑲᐊᐧᓯ`Ojibwa
- GaawanzigOjibwa
- HurlardPicard
- szlacharPolish
- tracz długodziobyPolish
- رتی چھاتی آلی مرگانسرWestern Panjabi
- merganso-de-poupaPortuguese
- Marel mesaunRomansh
- ferestraş moţatRomanian
- ferestraşul moţatRomanian
- длинноносыйRussian
- Длинноносый крохальRussian
- Средний крохальRussian
- или морской крохальRussian
- Середнїй крохальRusyn
- УлунYakut
- goalsiNorthern Sami
- čievragoalsiNorthern Sami
- unnagoalssášNorthern Sami
- vuoktagoalsiNorthern Sami
- potápač prostrednýSlovak
- veliki žagarSlovenian
- Srednja žagaricaSlovenian
- srednji žagarSlovenian
- Zhytësi i mesëm me callmeAlbanian
- zhytësi i mesëm me çallmëAlbanian
- Srednji ronacSerbian
- Средњи ронацSerbian
- småskrakeSwedish
- เป็ดปากยาวอกแดงThai
- tarakdisTurkish
- tarakdişTurkish
- Узун думчуктуг даргатTuvinian
- Крех середнійUkrainian
- Крех довгоносийUkrainian
- Середній крехUkrainian
- Крех середній (Крех довгоносий)Ukrainian
- 海秋沙Chinese
- 紅胸秋沙Chinese
- 红胸秋沙鸭Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the red-breasted merganser
Other species in the same genus Mergus.
Common merganser
Mergus merganser
Brazilian merganser
Mergus octosetaceus
Scaly-sided merganser
Mergus squamatus
Auckland merganser
Mergus australis
CompareRed-breasted merganser vs Common merganserRed-breasted merganser vs Brazilian merganserRed-breasted merganser vs Scaly-sided merganserRed-breasted merganser vs Auckland merganser
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the red-breasted merganser?
The red-breasted merganser is a bird in the waterfowl subgroup and belongs to the family Anatidae. Other English names include Fishing duck and Red-breast merganser.
How heavy is the red-breasted merganser?
Adults weigh from 908 g to 1.135 kg, with a representative body mass of 1.015 kg. Its wingspan is 87 cm.
What does the red-breasted merganser eat?
The red-breasted merganser is an aquatic predator and a carnivore.
Is the red-breasted merganser endangered?
No. It is listed as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.
How long does the red-breasted merganser live?
Its lifespan is given as 9.3 years, with values up to 21.33 years reported by sources.
How many eggs does the red-breasted merganser lay?
It has 9.1 per clutch and 1 clutch per year, and the eggs incubate for 31.75 days.
When does the red-breasted merganser reach sexual maturity?
It reaches sexual maturity at 2 years of age.
Who named the red-breasted merganser?
The scientific name Mergus serrator was given by Linnaeus, 1758.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
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CreatureData. (2026). Red-breasted merganser (Mergus serrator). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/red-breasted-merganser
“Red-breasted merganser (Mergus serrator).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/red-breasted-merganser.
@misc{red_breasted_merganser_2026,
title = {Red-breasted merganser (Mergus serrator)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/red-breasted-merganser},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}