Seaducks | ||||||||||
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Scientific classification | ||||||||||
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† For other ducks, see also: Anatidae |
The seaducks, Merginae, form a sub-family of the duck, goose and swan family of birds, Anatidae.
As the name implies, most but not all, are essentially marine outside the breeding season. Some of the mergansers prefer riverine habitats.
All but two of the 20 species in this group occupy habitats in far northern latitudes.
The fish-eating members of this group, such as the mergansers and Smew, have serrated edges to their bills to help them grip their prey. These are therefore often known as "sawbills".
Other seaducks take molluscs or crustaceans from the sea floor
There are twenty species in ten genera.
Genus Polysticta
- Steller's Eider Polysticta stelleri
- Common Eider Somateria mollissima
- Spectacled Eider Somateria fischeri
- King Eider Somateria spectabilis
- Harlequin Duck Histrionicus histrionicus
- Labrador Duck Camptorhynchus labradorius (extinct)
- Common Scoter or Black Scoter Melanitta nigra
- Velvet Scoter or White-winged Scoter Melanitta fusca
- Surf Scoter Melanitta perspicillata
- Long-tailed Duck or Oldsquaw Clangula hyemalis
- Common Goldeneye Bucephala clangula
- Barrow's Goldeneye Bucephala islandica
- Bufflehead Bucephala albeola
- Smew Mergellus albellus
- Hooded Merganser Lophodytes cucullatus
- Brazilian Merganser Mergus octosetaceus
- Auckland Island's Merganser Mergus australis (extinct)
- Red-breasted Merganser Mergus serrator
- Common Merganser or Goosander Mergus merganser
- Chinese Merganser Mergus squamatus