FISH GRIPPER
a crest on the back of the head that can at times appear as if it has been deliberately smoothed down, while at others it can be more spiky in appearance. Both sexes have a long red bill that ends in a noticeable downward pointing hook. The final member of our triumvirate of sawbills is the Red-breasted Merganser. It too breeds in Britain, mainly in Scotland and north west England, as well as in west Wales. From July, our breeding population heads to the coast, where in the autumn, wintering birds from Scandinavia and beyond join them. They can be found around virtually the whole coastline of the British Isles in the winter, with their numbers peaking in December, so now is definitely a great time to get out and find them. The drake is an attractive bird, but unlike the more elegant Smew and Goosander drakes, he is a bit of a punk when it comes to appearance! With a wonderfully dishevelled spiky crest on the rear of his green-glossed black head, a white collar above his streaky reddy brown breast, which itself is flanked by a pattern of white spots on black, the male Red-breasted Merganser is a bird that likes to really stand out! With her often unkempt crest on her reddy brown head the female Red-breasted Merganser is certainly no wallflower, but as with the other sawbill females, she is more subtle in her plumage. The drake is an attractive bird, but unlike the more elegant Smew and Goosander drakes, he is a bit of a punk when it comes to appearance
The females of both the Goosander and the Red-breasted Merganser have very similar coloration and can be confused with one another, especially at a distance. The key area to look at, whether in flight or sat on the water, is the neck. Both have reddy brown heads and both can show a spiky crest, but the Goosander’s head colouring ends abruptly with a sharp linear border between it and the almost whitish lower neck. This contrasts with the Red-breasted Merganser whose head colouring blends in with the grey of the body and neck, without any clear border between them. Good views will also reveal that the female Goosander has a small clean white patch on her chin and the long bill with the down curved hook at the end, both features that the female Red-breasted Mergansers lack. In flight, the females of both species show a square white patch on the rear of their wings. In the Red-breasted Merganser this white patch has a distinct black line running across it, something that is lacking in the female Goosander. Habitat can also help you separate them, with Red-breasted Mergansers being found in coastal areas and estuaries at this time of year, whilst the Goosander is more likely to be on inland areas of water. Having said that though, Goosanders do sometimes visit estuaries in the winter and although it is unlikely that a Red-breasted Merganser will turn up inland this month, it is, as with anything in birding, always possible. All three of our sawbills are great birds, it is a bit of a challenge to see them all, but it is a challenge well worth undertaking. See if you can get yourself some sawbills this January – you definitely won’t be disappointed! This is why sawbills (this is a female Goosander) have serrated bill edges: to firmly grasp slippery fish The feet are set well back, on this redhead Smew, to help underwater propulsion Like all ducks, drake sawbills are only at their best when fully adult and in breeding plumage, unlike this moulting drake Red-breasted Merganser