Red-breasted merganser

What am I?

I am a diving duck.

Where do I come from?

I come from Scotland, north-west England, north-west Wales, west Ireland, northern Europe, Asia & North America.

A bit about me

I never live far from the water. When I search for food you will see me dipping my head underwater and also diving down under the water to retrieve small tasty fish. I also like to eat crustaceans & insects. We Red breasted mergansers can fly at speeds of around 80mph, which means we are one of the fastest flying ducks.

Conservation status

I’m green listed in the UK

I’m a qualifying feature for the Portsmouth Harbour and Chichester and Langstone Harbours Special Protection Areas – that means, when the sites were designated, a nationally significant number of us used these awesome coastlines in the winter!