Common Merganser
Alaska, USA
Common Mergansers have a highly specialized relationship with salmon runs, serving as one of the key indicator birds that signal the arrival of salmon in Alaskan rivers. They capitalize on different stages of the salmon life cycle, from following the massive summer spawning runs to hunting migrating juveniles in the spring.
During peak spawning runs (late May through September), mergansers are frequently seen diving amidst spawning salmon. They primarily target loose salmon eggs (roe) that drift downstream. In the spring, mergansers use "cooperative herding," wherein they form a semicircle to drive young salmon into shallow water where they are easily caught. While they are efficient predators, their impact on wild salmon populations is generally considered minimal in healthy ecosystems.
Photo © copyright by Dr. Edward Mikol.
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