Waterfowl and waterbirdsDucks, Geese, and Waterfowl

Red-breasted Merganser

Mergus serrator

RareRare in Travis County but uncommon in Texas

The red-breasted merganser 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.

Songs and calls

Call, song · United States
Andrew Spencer · xeno-canto XC141724 · CC BY-NC-SA 3.0
Flight call · Finland
Stanislas Wroza · xeno-canto XC1167884 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Call, song · United States
Andrew Spencer · xeno-canto XC134967 · CC BY-NC-SA 3.0
Flight call · Sweden
Lars Edenius · xeno-canto XC801187 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Bar chart and range on eBird

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Where it's been seen

Hotspots with reports in the last 30 days.

Not reported in Travis County in the last 30 days

Browse species seen recently

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Telling it apart

Field marks that matter, and the birds it's most often mixed up with.

Males have a dark green head with a shaggy crest, a white collar, a brownish-red breast and gray sides.^{[1, 2]}
Females are gray with a duller orange-brown head and a shaggy crest; the pale throat and neck blend into the head and chest instead of contrasting.^{[1, 2]}
Rare here, from late October to March.^[3]

Possibly mistaken for

Male
Common MerganserVery rare
Females are alike; look at the contrast on the head and neck.^{[1, 4]}
Red-breasted Merganser:
A duller head that blends into the pale throat and chest, a shaggier crest and a thinner bill.
Common Merganser:
A bright rusty head with a sharp white throat, and a clean line between the brown neck and white chest.

Sources (4) and credits

Red-breasted Merganser, Audubon Guide to North American Birds
Red-breasted Merganser, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency
Travis County bar charts (eBird Basic Dataset), eBird, Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Common Merganser, Audubon Guide to North American Birds

Lookalike photos from Wikimedia Commons: Common Merganser by Bengt Nyman from Vaxholm, Sweden (CC BY 2.0)

Recordings: Red-breasted Merganser (call, song) by Andrew Spencer (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0, xeno-canto); Common Merganser (song) by Jarek Matusiak (CC BY-NC-ND 2.5, xeno-canto)

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2026 in Travis County

From every checklist reported in the county this year: who found it first, who finds it most, and when.

First of 2026: Jan 5 · Caleb Helsel at Lake Travis--Bob Wentz Windy Point Pk
Latest report: Apr 30 · Eric Carpenter at Hornsby Bend (HOTE 037)
Reported on: 33 checklists, 19 days
High count, 2026: 8 · Mar 11 · Andy & Ellen Filtness at Lake Travis--Bob Wentz Windy Point Pk

Who finds it most

1. Andy & Ellen Filtness · 8 lists
2. Vincent O'Brien · 6 lists
3. Jane Tillman · 5 lists
4. Jeff Osborne · 2 lists
5. Bryan Cotter · 1 list

Time of day

Share of 2026 checklists started in each hour that reported it. Hours with fewer than 30 checklists are left out.

Red-breasted Merganser: share of checklists by start hour, 2026

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Red-breasted Merganser: share of checklists by start hour, 2026
Start time	Share reporting it	Details
12 AM	0%	0 of 30 checklists
5 AM	0%	0 of 79 checklists
6 AM	0%	0 of 922 checklists
7 AM	0.1%	6 of 4,964 checklists
8 AM	0.1%	6 of 4,686 checklists
9 AM	0.1%	5 of 3,476 checklists
10 AM	0.1%	3 of 2,828 checklists
11 AM	0.1%	2 of 2,278 checklists
12 PM	0.1%	1 of 1,970 checklists
1 PM	0.3%	4 of 1,530 checklists
2 PM	0.1%	2 of 1,371 checklists
3 PM	0.1%	2 of 1,400 checklists
4 PM	0.1%	1 of 1,569 checklists
5 PM	0.1%	1 of 1,649 checklists
6 PM	0%	0 of 1,491 checklists
7 PM	0%	0 of 1,235 checklists
8 PM	0%	0 of 502 checklists
9 PM	0%	0 of 120 checklists
10 PM	0%	0 of 66 checklists
11 PM	0%	0 of 41 checklists

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Through the year

Winter visitor · usually Apr–May and Oct–Mar

Red-breasted Merganser: share of complete checklists, 2016–2026

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Red-breasted Merganser: share of complete checklists, 2016–2026
Week	Checklists reporting it
Jan 1–7	<0.1%
Jan 8–14	0.3%
Jan 15–21	0.2%
Jan 22–end	<0.1%
Feb 1–7	<0.1%
Feb 8–14	0.2%
Feb 15–21	0.2%
Feb 22–end	0.2%
Mar 1–7	0.2%
Mar 8–14	0.4%
Mar 15–21	0.1%
Mar 22–end	<0.1%
Apr 1–7	0%
Apr 8–14	0%
Apr 15–21	0.1%
Apr 22–end	0.2%
May 1–7	<0.1%
May 8–14	<0.1%
May 15–21	<0.1%
May 22–end	0%
Jun 1–7	0%
Jun 8–14	0%
Jun 15–21	0%
Jun 22–end	0.1%
Jul 1–7	0%
Jul 8–14	0%
Jul 15–21	0%
Jul 22–end	0%
Aug 1–7	0%
Aug 8–14	0%
Aug 15–21	0%
Aug 22–end	0%
Sep 1–7	0%
Sep 8–14	0%
Sep 15–21	0%
Sep 22–end	0.1%
Oct 1–7	0%
Oct 8–14	0%
Oct 15–21	0%
Oct 22–end (now)	0%
Nov 1–7	0.2%
Nov 8–14	0.5%
Nov 15–21	0.4%
Nov 22–end	0.7%
Dec 1–7	0.4%
Dec 8–14	0.3%
Dec 15–21	0.2%
Dec 22–end	0.2%

This week: Not usually reported now
Peak: late Nov · 0.7% of checklists
Earliest eBird record here: Nov 12, 1973
Checklists reporting it: 339 across 30 years
eBird high count: 11 (Apr 23, 2023)
First of 2026: Jan 5
All year, here vs Texas: 0.1% of checklists here, 0.7% statewide
Texas counties with records: 158 of 254 since 2016

Best hotspots for it

Share of complete checklists at each hotspot that reported it (2016–2026). Hotspots with fewer than 15 checklists are left out, and the order discounts small samples, so a hotspot with few checklists can sit below one with a lower share.

1Lake Travis--Mansfield Dam7% of 41
2Lake Travis--Bob Wentz Windy Point Pk5% of 779
3Lake Pflugerville1% of 346
4Hornsby Bend (HOTE 037)0.5% of 3,769

From the eBird Basic Dataset (Sep-2026), complete checklists only.

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