The last time (2020.12.15) I saw the Hooded merganser was at the Los Angeles Arboretum. They were too distant from me and there was not enough light so I wasn’t able to take the photos to show off the characteristics of the Hooded merganser. I was deeply disappointed. On March 4, 2021 I glanced over the pond and saw these two Hooded mergansers at the Huntington Library, a male and a female, and I felt so excited. They are just so unique and cute. The bird is striking in appearance; both sexes have crests that they can raise or lower, and the breeding plumage of the male is handsomely patterned and colored.
一次(2020.12.15)在洛杉磯植物園看到棕脅秋沙鴨時，距離太遠而且光線太暗，無法照出棕脅秋沙鴨的特點，深感遺憾。2021年3月4日在亨廷頓圖書館一眼瞄到這兩隻棕脅秋沙鴨，一公一母，興奮至極。它們又可愛又特別。這種鳥的外表引人注目。 雌雄雙方都有可以升高或降低的頭羽，雄鴨的繁殖羽有漂亮的圖案和顏色。
On December 15, 2020, I saw hooded mergansers for the first time in the pond in the LA Arboretum. Unfortunately, they are far away and my photography skills are not good. The reflection in the pond and the darker light cannot show the special characteristics of the hooded merganser. But, let me make a record to show my first time.
2020.12.15這天在植物園中的池塘裏，我第一次看到棕脅秋沙鴨，可惜距離稍遠，而且我技術不好，池塘中的倒影及較暗的光線，無法把棕脅秋沙鴨的特性展現出來。但記錄一下我的第一次。
Notes 筆記
- Hooded merganser is the only extant species in the genus Lophodytes.
- The genus name derives from the Greek language: lophos meaning ‘crest’, and dutes meaning ‘diver’.
- The bird is striking in appearance; both sexes have crests that they can raise or lower, and the breeding plumage of the male is handsomely patterned and colored.
- The hooded merganser is a sexually dimorphic species. The adult female has a greyish-brown body, with a narrow white patch over the lower breast and belly. She has a light reddish-brown crest extending from the back of the head. During the nonbreeding season the male looks similar to the female, except that his eyes are yellow and the female’s eyes are brown.
- In breeding plumage the dorsal areas and the head, neck and breast of the mature male are mainly black with white markings; there are large white patches on either side of the crest, and they are particularly conspicuous when he raises his crest during courtship.
- Hooded mergansers are the second smallest species of merganser, with only the smew of Europe and Asia being smaller, and it also is the only merganser whose native habitat is restricted to North America.
- Hooded Mergansers breed in forested wetlands throughout the eastern half of North America and the Pacific Northwest, and may also nest in treeless wetlands where people have put up nest boxes. They are most common in forests around the Great Lakes.
- Hooded mergansers are short-distance migrants, and they winter in the United States in regions where winter temperatures allow for ice-free conditions on ponds, lakes and rivers.
- The hooded merganser is a diving predator that largely hunts by sight while under water. Its diet is dominated by fishes. It also feeds on aquatic insects and other aquatic invertebrates such as crabs and crayfish.
- Males and females of the hooded merganser form monogamous pairs and they remain together until the female has selected a nesting cavity and completed laying her clutch. After that, the male leaves the female to incubate and care for the brood. The female will lay a clutch of 7-15 eggs but only begins incubation when the last egg has been laid.
- 棕脅秋沙鴨是棕脅秋沙鴨屬中唯一現存的物種。
- 屬名源自希臘語：lophos是“冠”的意思，dutes是“潛水員”的意思。
- 這種鳥的外表引人注目。 雌雄雙方都有可以升高或降低的頭羽，雄鴨的繁殖羽有漂亮的圖案和顏色。
- 棕脅秋沙鴨是兩性異形物種。成年雌鴨的身體為灰棕色，下胸部和腹部上方有一個狹窄的白色斑塊。她的頭後部有一淺紅褐色的冠。在非繁殖季節，雄鴨看上去與雌鴨相似，只是雄鴨的眼睛是黃色的，雌鴨的眼睛是棕色的。
- 在繁殖期，成年雄鴨的背側、頭、頸和胸部的羽毛主要是黑色的，並帶有白色斑紋。頭羽的兩邊都有大片的白色斑紋，當它在求愛時舉起頭羽時，這些斑紋特別明顯。
- 棕脅秋沙鴨是秋沙鴨中第二小的物種，只有歐洲和亞洲的白秋沙鸭更小，它也是唯一原生於北美的秋沙鴨。
- 棕脅秋沙鴨在北美東部和西北太平洋地區的森林濕地中繁殖，也可能在無樹的濕地或人們放的巢箱中築巢。在五大湖周圍的森林中也很常見到它們。
- 棕脅秋沙鴨是短距離遷徙的候鳥，它們在美國的冬季不會結冰的池塘、湖泊和河流地區過冬。
- 棕脅秋沙鴨是一種潛水的捕食者，在水下主要靠目視捕食。它的飲食以魚類為主。它還會以水生昆蟲和其他水生無脊椎動物如螃蟹和小龍蝦為食。
- 棕脅秋沙鴨是一夫一妻制，雄鴨及雌鴨它們一直在一起，直到雌鴨選擇了巢穴並產卵，之後雄鴨便離開讓雌鴨去孵化並照顧雛鴨。雌鴨通常會產下7-15個蛋，但只有在最後一個蛋產下後才開始孵化。
References 參考資料
- Wikipedia: Hooded merganser
- All about birds: Hooded Merganser
- 華人百科: 棕脅秋沙鴨
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