Common merganser

Mergus merganser

The Common merganser (Mergus merganser) is a bird found in United States, Canada, Sweden, Denmark, Netherlands and Norway. Lakes and rivers in forests across the Northern Hemisphere. It eats fish, insects and other small invertebrates and small mammals and birds. The IUCN Red List lists it as Least Concern.

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Scientific name	Mergus merganser
Region	Europe
Found in	United States, Canada, Sweden, Denmark, Netherlands and Norway

🏡 Where the Common merganser lives

Lakes and rivers in forests across the Northern Hemisphere.

🍽️ What it eats

🐟 Fish70%
🐛 Insects & bugs10%
🐭 Mammals & birds10%
🦎 Reptiles & frogs10%

A rough guide to its diet over a year. Source: EltonTraits (Wilman et al. 2014).

Conservation status

LCNTVUENCREWEX

Least ConcernThere are plenty of these birds.

💡 Its narrow, toothed bill is made for grabbing slippery fish.

Hear the Common merganser

Recorded by Stanislas Wroza (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0), xeno-canto XC1168279. Trimmed to a few seconds.

Questions about the Common merganser

Where does the Common merganser live?

The Common merganser lives in United States, Canada, Sweden, Denmark, Netherlands and Norway. Lakes and rivers in forests across the Northern Hemisphere.

What does the Common merganser eat?

fish (about 70%), insects and other small invertebrates (about 10%), small mammals and birds (about 10%), reptiles and frogs (about 10%). These are rough shares of its diet over a year, from the EltonTraits database.

Is the Common merganser endangered?

There are plenty of these birds. Its IUCN Red List category is Least Concern.

More birds from Europe

Sources: IUCN Red List (via Wikidata), EltonTraits 1.0 (Wilman et al. 2014), GBIF sightings for countries, Wikipedia. Last updated 2026-10-19.