Red-breasted Merganser

Mergus serrator

Least ConcernNear ThreatenedVulnerableEndangeredCritically Endangered

KingdomAnimalia (Animals)
PhylumChordata (Chordates)
ClassAves (Birds)
OrderAnseriformes (Waterfowl)
FamilyAnatidae (Ducks, Geese, and Swans)
GenusMergus (Typical Mergansers)
SpeciesMergus serrator (Red-breasted Merganser)

Daily sighting probability Insufficient data

at Plitvice Lakes National Park

1 Verified sightings at Plitvice Lakes National Park From 2019 to 2026

23,588 Verified sightings across all 57 parks From 2019 to 2026

☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted during daytime hours (6am–6pm)

About the Red-breasted Merganser

The red-breasted merganser (Mergus serrator) is a duck species that is native to much of the temperate to subarctic Northern Hemisphere. The red breast that gives the species its common name is only displayed by males in breeding plumage. Individuals fly rapidly, and feed by diving from the surface to pursue aquatic animals underwater, using serrated bills to capture slippery fish. They migrate each year from breeding sites on lakes and rivers to their mostly coastal wintering areas, making them the most frequent species in the genus Mergus to frequent saltwater regularly. The worldwide population of this species is stable, though it is threatened in some areas by habitat loss and other factors.

The red-breasted merganser was formally described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the current binomial name Mergus serrator. The species is monotypic; no subspecies are recognised. Birds breeding in Greenland were sometimes distinguised as a subspecies M. s. schioleri in the past on the basis of averaging very marginally larger, but this is no longer accepted as distinct.

The genus name Mergus is... Wikipedia →

Closest Relatives at Plitvice Lakes National Park

Mergus merganser

Daily sighting probability ~40% · Likely

Anas platyrhynchos

Daily sighting probability ~70% · Very likely

Aythya fuligula

Daily sighting probability <5% · Rare

Aythya nyroca

Daily sighting probability Insufficient data

Tadorna tadorna

Daily sighting probability Insufficient data

Mareca penelope

Daily sighting probability Insufficient data

Aix galericulata

Daily sighting probability Insufficient data

Anas crecca

Daily sighting probability Insufficient data

Cygnus olor

Daily sighting probability Insufficient data

Aythya ferina

Daily sighting probability Insufficient data

Spatula clypeata

Daily sighting probability Insufficient data

See all 11 relatives Show fewer

Global Distribution

Where this species is recorded worldwide. Restricted to human observations from 2019 onwards — the same kind of record and the same period the probabilities on this page are built from, so collar-tracking studies, camera-trap arrays and museum specimens are excluded. Around Santa Rosa that removes 5,924 GPS fixes from a handful of tagged jaguars.

where this species is recorded (GBIF density — it tracks where observers go, not how likely a sighting is) · parks where it occurs — tap a pin for the sighting probability there

Parks Where Found

#	Park	Country	Daily sighting probability
1	Thingvellir National Park	🇮🇸 Iceland	~60%
2	Vatnajokull National Park	🇮🇸 Iceland	~50%
3	Point Pelee National Park	🇨🇦 Canada	~50%
4	Isle Royale National Park	🇺🇸 United States	~40%
5	Katmai National Park	🇺🇸 United States	~30%
6	El Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve	🇲🇽 Mexico	~20%
7	Acadia National Park	🇺🇸 United States	~20%
8	Pacific Rim National Park Reserve	🇨🇦 Canada	~20%
9	Gates of the Arctic National Park	🇺🇸 United States	~10%
10	Great Bear Rainforest	🇨🇦 Canada	~10%
11	Cape Breton Highlands National Park	🇨🇦 Canada	~10%
12	Channel Islands National Park	🇺🇸 United States	~10%
13	Snowdonia National Park	🇬🇧 United Kingdom	~10%
14	Olympic National Park	🇺🇸 United States	~10%
15	Kluane National Park	🇨🇦 Canada	~10%
16	Camargue	🇫🇷 France	~10%
17	Wadden Sea National Park	🇩🇪 Germany	~10%
18	Gros Morne National Park	🇨🇦 Canada	~10%
19	Wrangell-St. Elias National Park	🇺🇸 United States	~10%
20	Kenai Fjords National Park	🇺🇸 United States	~10%
21	Voyageurs National Park	🇺🇸 United States	<5%
22	Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve	🇲🇽 Mexico	<5%
23	Redwood National Park	🇺🇸 United States	<5%
24	Cairngorms National Park	🇬🇧 United Kingdom	<5%
25	Death Valley National Park	🇺🇸 United States	<5%
26	Everglades National Park	🇺🇸 United States	<5%
27	Ciénaga de Zapata	🇨🇺 Cuba	<5%
28	Banff National Park	🇨🇦 Canada	<5%
29	Kiskunság National Park	🇭🇺 Hungary	<5%
30	Celestún Biosphere Reserve	🇲🇽 Mexico	<5%
31	Bavarian Forest National Park	🇩🇪 Germany	<5%
32	Jasper National Park	🇨🇦 Canada	<5%
33	Shenandoah National Park	🇺🇸 United States	<5%
34	Yellowstone National Park	🇺🇸 United States	<5%
35	Big Cypress National Preserve	🇺🇸 United States	<5%
36	Biebrza National Park	🇵🇱 Poland	<5%
37	Denali National Park	🇺🇸 United States	<5%
38	Grand Teton National Park	🇺🇸 United States	<5%
39	Rocky Mountain National Park	🇺🇸 United States	<5%
40	Saguaro National Park	🇺🇸 United States	<5%
41	Glacier National Park	🇺🇸 United States	<5%
42	Joshua Tree National Park	🇺🇸 United States	<5%
43	Nahanni National Park	🇨🇦 Canada	Insufficient data
44	La Amistad International Park (Panama)	🇵🇦 Panama	Insufficient data
45	Elk Island National Park	🇨🇦 Canada	Insufficient data
46	Nikko National Park	🇯🇵 Japan	Insufficient data
47	Bahía de Loreto National Park	🇲🇽 Mexico	Insufficient data
48	Plitvice Lakes National Park	🇭🇷 Croatia	Insufficient data
49	Riding Mountain National Park	🇨🇦 Canada	Insufficient data
50	Hortobágy National Park	🇭🇺 Hungary	Insufficient data
51	Arrecifes de Cozumel National Park	🇲🇽 Mexico	Insufficient data
52	Zion National Park	🇺🇸 United States	Insufficient data
53	Białowieża National Park	🇵🇱 Poland	Insufficient data
54	Fertő-Hanság National Park	🇭🇺 Hungary	Insufficient data
55	Grand Canyon National Park	🇺🇸 United States	Insufficient data
56	Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve	🇲🇽 Mexico	Insufficient data
57	Great Smoky Mountains National Park	🇺🇸 United States	Insufficient data

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Red-breasted Merganser

About the Red-breasted Merganser

Closest Relatives at Plitvice Lakes National Park

Common Merganser

Mallard

Tufted Duck

Ferruginous Duck

Common Shelduck

Eurasian Wigeon

Mandarin Duck

Common Teal

Mute Swan

Common Pochard

Northern Shoveler

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found