COMMON MERGANSER 

 ( Mergus merganser ) 



[DA: Stor Skallesluger , DU: Grote Zaagbek, EN: Goosander, FI: Isokoskelo, FR: 

 Harle bievre, GE: Gansesager, IC: Gulond, IT: Smergo raaggiore, JA: Kawa aisa, 

 NW: Laksand, PO: Tracz nuroges , PR: Merganso , RU: (Large Merganser), SP: Ser- 

 reta grande, SW: Storskrake, US: American Merganser] 



GENERAL DISTRIBUTION 



North America The Common Merganser breeds from southern Alaska and the 

 southern Yukon east across central Canada to southern and eastern James Bay and 

 across the Labrador Peninsula to Newfoundland, south in the mountains to cen- 

 tral California and southern Colorado, occasionally farther south, and east from 

 southern Alberta to the Great Lakes States, northern New York, and New England 

 (Bellrose 1976, Palmer 1976b). They have recently been breeding in small num- 

 bers in the upper Delaware River of New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and in the Sus- 

 quehanna River Valley of Pennsylvania (Boyle et al. 1980). 



Most North American Common Mergansers winter from the Pribilof and Aleutian 

 islands, southern British Columbia, Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska, Missouri, the 

 Great Lakes States, the St. Lawrence Valley, Prince Edward Island, and Newfound- 

 land south to southern California, north-central Mexico, and northern Texas, and 

 east to central Georgia (AOU 1957, Bellrose 1976). Small numbers winter farther 

 south to central Baja California, the northern Gulf coast, and southern Florida 

 (Palmer 1976b). 



World Distribution Outside North America, the Common Merganser breeds from 

 Iceland, Great Britain, Scandinavia, and the Baltic Sea region south to eastern 

 France, Switzerland, Yugoslavia, and Greece, east across Russia, central Siberia, 

 and Mongolia to Kamchatka and Sakhalin, and from Afghanistan and the Himalayas 

 to Tibet and Altai. They winter on open water in Europe, the northern Mediter- 

 ranean region, on the Black, Caspian, and Aral seas, the Persian Gulf, northern 

 India, northern Indochina, southeastern China, and Japan (Delacour 1954, AOU 

 1957, BOU 1971, Cramp et al. 1977). 



DISTRIBUTION IN THE COASTAL SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES 



North Carolina Common Mergansers are uncommon to rare winter visitors in 

 North Carolina, where they are primarily found inland on fresh water. Most are 

 present from November to April (Potter et al. 1980); dates of occurrence for 

 winter visitors extend from as early as 29 October (LeGrand 1979a) to as late 

 as 21 April (Wray and Davis 1959). 



The numbers of Common Mergansers that occur along the coast is not well 

 known because some are probably overlooked among the much more abundant and sim- 

 ilar appearing Red-breasted Mergansers. LeGrand (1978) noted that this species 

 is more numerous in the Carolinas during very cold winters and reported that 18, 



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