Red-breasted Mergansers have bred at least once in North Carolina, well 

 south of their normal range. A pair with a brood of seven young was present at 

 Pea Island during the summer of 1956 (Chamberlain and Chamberlain 1956). Need- 

 ham (1968) saw an immature Red-breasted Merganser at Wrightsville Beach on 28 

 June 1967 but never saw the parents. The identification remains in doubt be- 

 cause young Red-breasted and Common Mergansers are very similar in appearance 

 (Palmer 1976b) and because Needham gave no basis for the identification. An- 

 other flightless young merganser was seen at an impoundment near West Onslow 

 Beach on 6 July 1970; it was identified as a Red-breasted Merganser (Teulings 

 1970b), perhaps because a bird believed to be a female Red-breasted Merganser 

 had been seen there on 10 June. 



South Carolina These mergansers are one of the most numerous winter wild- 

 fowl in South Carolina, generally arriving in late October and remaining along 

 the coast until early April; others may stay to summer (Sprunt and Chamberlain 

 1949). They are most common along the coast (Map 31), but also occur at inland 

 localities. Bellrose (1976) indicated average winter populations of about 1,800 

 birds off the coast. 



Red-breasted Mergansers reportedly bred within South Carolina on at least 

 four occasions, but these records are poorly documented and the bases for spe- 

 cific identification were never given. Burton (1970) stated that "On June 6, 

 1965, a female with two ducklings was seen sitting on a mudbank opposite Rock- 

 ville, Charleston County, by T. A. Beckett III. Upon being observed, they took 

 to the water and swam into the nearby marsh. All further attempts to locate 

 them failed." Parnell (1967) noted that during the summer of 1967, " Red - 

 breasted Mergansers were found nesting in the Charleston area for the second 

 year with young birds seen by Beckett." Teulings (1972c), who indicated that 

 the observations were again made by Beckett, stated that "At least 3 pairs of 

 Red-breasted Mergansers were known to have nested successfully in the Charles- 

 ton area during the summer of 1972." 



Teulings (1974c), again basing his statements on observations by Beckett, 

 reported that "...Red-breasted Mergansers were present in small numbers through 

 the period [the summer of 1974] at Charleston where a nesting pair successfully 

 raised a brood of five young on Bohicket Creek.... Two families of Red-breasted 

 Mergansers were also seen June 17 at Rockville, S.C." 



Other authors (e.g., Johnsgard 1975, Potter et al. 1980) did not question 

 these records of Red-breasted Mergansers in" South Carolina but no records were 

 mentioned by Bellrose (1976) or Palmer (1976b); Palmer (1976b) evidently sus- 

 pected that these records may have been confused with Common Mergansers, "the 

 most likely nester at southerly localities." 



Georgia Along the coast of Georgia, Red-breasted Mergansers are fairly 

 common winter residents (Burleigh 1958). They are markedly less common and ir- 

 regular in appearance throughout the interior of the state. Dates of occurrence 

 range from 4 November (Denton et al. 1977) to 27 May (LeGrand 1979c), with a 

 few remaining in summer. 



Florida Sprunt (1954) noted that Red-breasted Mergansers are common 

 winter visitors throughout the coastal regions of both the Atlantic and Gulf 



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