By Paul Noeldner
Madison Friends of Urban Nature

Our birds of the month for April and May are mergansers, beautiful feisty-looking duck-like birds that gather on Madison lakes during spring and fall migration. The Latin word “merge” is a bird that dives under water, and “anser” is a goose-like bird. Mergansers are cousins of our more popularly known Common Loons.

The Common Merganser is easy to spot from shore even without binoculars. They have a striking black head, bright red bill, white chest and belly, and a black back with small white racing stripes. When they fly, they flash large square white patches on their black wings. They can be seen in big flocks at times but are anything but common.

Their physiology or body design is amazingly fine-tuned for diving for fish. Like loons, mergansers have heavier bones than most birds, which makes it a bit harder to take off when they fly but helps them dive under water for up to two minutes at a time.

Did you know some birds have teeth? Long slender merganser beaks have fine serrated edges like teeth that help them catch fish. The females have reddish feathers with punkish hairdos, and they sometimes help share parental duties for up to 70 young ones at a time.

Other mergansers you will see on Madison Lakes are the Red-breasted Merganser and the Hooded Merganser. What an amazing variety of birds there are that look like average “ducks” until we take a closer look. Google “merganser” to learn more about these and other duck-like birds you discover on Madison lakes.

These birds and the fish they eat can’t read advisory signs about salt runoff, PFAS and other pollutants. They would prefer not to have a side of PFAS with their fish sandwich. Please help keep our lakes and rivers clean for humans and for wildlife.