Mergus serrator
A slim, fast-flying coastal sawbill with a shaggy crest, more at home on the sea than the goosander.
Sawbill · 9,000 breeding pairs (UK)
In most ducks the male (drake) and female (hen) look quite different. Study both to identify any bird.
Dark green head with a wispy double crest, rusty speckled breast and grey body.
Photos: Chuck Homler d/b/a Focus On Wildlife · CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Fish, caught by diving — sand eels, sprats and small flatfish.
Sheltered coasts, estuaries and sea lochs; breeds on freshwater near the coast.
Nests on the ground on islands and coastal moors.
Mostly resident with local coastal movements in winter.
Males give a cat-like "yeow-yeow" display call.
Compare with close relatives.
Green list
🏠
Mergus merganser
A large, sleek sawbill duck — a fish-hunter with a long, serrated red bill.
Green list
❄️
Mergellus albellus
A petite, striking black-and-white sawbill — the "white nun" — that visits our lakes in hard winters.