Bird name:

Smew

Mergellus albellusOrder: ANSERIFORMES Family: Geese and Ducks (Anatidae)

Codes: Common Name: Smew Scientific Name: MERALB ITIS Taxonomic No.: 175196

Smew - The male Smew has a white body and black back, eye patch, breast bar, and V-shaped nape patch. The wings are dark with large white patches. Legs, feet, and bill are gray.

Smew Female - The female Smew has a gray body and a white throat and face contrasting sharply with a dark brown cap and nape.

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Smew

Smew: Small merganser, mostly white body except for black back, mask, breast bar, and V-shaped nape patch. Wings are dark with large white patches. Gray legs, feet. Feeds on fish, aquatic insects, and their larvae. Swift direct flight with rapid wing beats. Flies in straight line or V formation.

● Song: "krrr"

● Foraging & Feeding: Smew: Feeds on aquatic insects and small fish; forages by diving from the surface, swimming underwater to pursue prey.

● Breeding & nesting: Smew: Six to nine creamy white eggs are laid in a tree hole lined with down, usually close to the ground, and near water. Eggs are incubated for 26 days by the female.

● Similar species: Smew: Steller’s Eider has brown breast and belly.

Flight Pattern

Direct flight with rapid wing beats.

● Range & Habitat: Smew: Eurasian species, rare fall and winter visitor in western Aleutians; casual on Pribilofs; accidental on or near the west and east coast and the Great Lakes. Preferred habitats include lakes, bays, and rivers.

^BreedingMonogamous

^PopulationRare, Accidental in North America

^MigrationMigratory

^Weight22.4 Ounces

4 and 6 letter alpha codes

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

Field Guide to Birds of North America

Smew

Smew

Flight Pattern