Common Merganser v Mallard II

A couple days ago I showed the superficial similarity between our 2 most common green-headed ducks, the Common Merganser and the Mallard. Those green heads are only present on the males of these species; are the females also similar?

Not really. Other than both of them looking like ducks, there's really not much of a resemblance between female Mallards and Common Mergansers:
  • Female Common Mergansers are mostly off-white or light gray, but unlike their male counterparts they have rich brown feathering on the head/neck, usually with a frizzy look.
  • Female Mallards are duller brown on the head/neck but are a mottled brown below that. In flight (and sometimes in water) you'll spot some blue on the wings.
While their mates might be confused with one another, these females shouldn't cause any confusion [1].

March 3, 2021 at Duke Island Park
Photo 120274105, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)


December 16, 2021 at Duke Farms
Photo 174170341, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

[1] On the other hand, mixing up a female Mallard and a female American Black Duck, or a female Common Merganser with a female Red-breasted Merganser are both a lot easier. Those pairs of ducks are much more closely related to one another than Mallards and Common Mergansers are.

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