Common Merganser

Mergus merganser Linnaeus 1758

Phil Myers, Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor cc-by-nc-sa-3.0

Mergus merganser (Common Merganser) is a species of birds in the family Anatidae. They are associated with freshwater habitat. They are native to Asia, The Nearctic, and the Palearctic. They are diurnal carnivores. Individuals can grow to 97 cm. They have parental care (female provides care). They rely on flight, drag powered swimming, and swimming to move around.

URI: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/ENVO_00000873
Definition: A biome that applies to the freshwater realm.

show all records

URI: http://www.geonames.org/6255147

show all records

URI: https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q737742
Definition: one of the eight terrestrial ecozones constituting the Earth's land surface
Attribution: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ecozone_Nearctic.svg

show all records

URI: https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q106447
Definition: largest of the eight ecozones constituting the Earth's surface
Attribution: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Palearctic.png

show all records

URI: https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q81875
Definition: organism that eats mostly or exclusively animal tissue
Attribution: Crustacean body sizes

show all records

URI: http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q906470
Definition: animal behavior characterized by activity during the day, with a period of inactivity at night.

show all records

URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/parentalCareFemale
Definition: the female feeds and nurtures offspring
Attribution: Richard M. Sibly, Christopher C. Witt, Natalie A. Wright, Chris Venditti, Walter Jetz, and James H. Brown. 2012. Energetics, lifestyle, and reproduction in birds. PNAS 109(27):10937-10941, doi:10.1073/pnas.1206512109

show all records

URI: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/NBO_0000367
Definition: self-propelled movement of an organism from one location to another through the air, usually by means of active wing movement

show all records

URI: https://eol.org/schema/terms/drag_based_swimming
Definition: Drag swimmers use a cyclic motion where they push water back in a power stroke, and return their limb forward in the return or recovery stroke. When they push water directly backwards, this moves their body forward, but as they return their limbs to the starting position, they push water forward, which will thus pull them back to some degree, and so opposes the direction that the body is heading. This opposing force is called drag. The return-stroke drag causes drag swimmers to employ different strategies than lift swimmers. Reducing drag on the return stroke is essential for optimizing efficiency.

show all records

URI: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/GO_0036268
Definition: Self-propelled movement of an organism from one location to another through water, often by means of active fin movement.

show all records

EOL has data for 58 attributes, including:

Body symmetry
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/body_symmetry
- Definition: overall repetitive or reflective pattern in the body of one individual of this taxon. eg: bilateral symmetry, rotational symmetry, radial symmetry
show all records
bilaterally symmetric
- URI: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/PATO_0001324
- Definition: being symmetric about a plane running from frontal end to caudal end (head to tail), and having nearly identical right and left halves
show all records
body shape
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/BodyShape
show all records
bilaterally symmetric
- URI: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/PATO_0001324
- Definition: being symmetric about a plane running from frontal end to caudal end (head to tail), and having nearly identical right and left halves
show all records
diet includes
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/Diet
- Definition: Information about the items eaten by this organism.
show all records
amphibians
- URI: https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q10908
- Definition: class of tetrapods, whose living forms include frogs, toads, salamanders, newts and caecilians
show all records
foraging habitat
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/ForagingHabitat
- Definition: Primary habitat where the species forages during the breeding season.
- Attribution: Richard M. Sibly, Christopher C. Witt, Natalie A. Wright, Chris Venditti, Walter Jetz, and James H. Brown. 2012. Energetics, lifestyle, and reproduction in birds. PNAS 109(27):10937-10941, doi:10.1073/pnas.1206512109
show all records
freshwater
- URI: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/ENVO_00000873
- Definition: A biome that applies to the freshwater realm.
show all records
geographic distribution includes
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/Present
- Definition: This organism is known to be present in this location or region. Not exclusive; other regions may also be reported.
show all records
Italy
- URI: http://www.geonames.org/3175395
show all records
litters per year
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/LittersPerYear
- Definition: Number of litters per female per year
show all records
1 /year
mating system
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/MatingSystem
show all records
monogamous
- URI: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/ECOCORE_00000063
- Definition: One male and one female have an exclusive mating relationship
show all records
native range includes
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/NativeRange
- Definition: Lists jurisdictions in which a given organism is a member of the undisturbed fauna or flora.
show all records
Asia
- URI: http://www.geonames.org/6255147
show all records
prenatal development duration
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/PrenatalDevelopmentDuration
- Definition: The duration of the development from fertilized, deposited or implanted egg to hatching/birth. Corresponds to egg incubation duration in oviparous animals and to gestation period duration in viviparous animals.
show all records
28 days
social system
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/SocialSystem
- Definition: Description of the relationships among individuals within a population of organisms, including reproductive relationships (mating system), relationships within each sex, adult – young interactions, helpers and cooperation (group living).
show all records
group living
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/socialGroupLiving
- Definition: where individuals of the same species (conspecifics), maintain spatial proximity with one another over time with mechanisms of social attraction
- Attribution: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_living
show all records
trophic guild
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/TrophicGuild
- Definition: A group of species that exploit the same food resources, and/or use the same feeding or foraging methods. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guild_(ecology)
show all records
piscivore
- URI: http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q1420208
- Definition: carnivorous animal which eats primarily fish.
show all records
type specimen repository
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/TypeSpecimenRepository
- Definition: The institution that holds a type specimen for a given species. The recommended best practice is to use the identifier in a collections registry such as the Biodiversity Collections Index (http://www.biodiversitycollectionsindex.org/).
show all records
Staatliches Museum fuer Naturkund Stuttgart
- URI: http://biocol.org/urn:lsid:biocol.org:col:34840
show all records

Known occurrences, collected specimens and observations of Common Merganser. View this species on GBIF

Phil Myers, Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor cc-by-nc-sa-3.0

Common Merganser includes 3 children: