Goosander

Mergus merganser merganser (Linnaeus, 1758)

		male
2017-01-07 Ust-Kamenogorsk. Strelka.	© Askar Isabekov

Description

Male in breeding plumage has darker upper parts; light stripes on rump are more conspicuous and sharper than in comatus; black edges on scapulars and inner secondaries are narrow, no more than 1.2 mm wide. Female head is dark chestnut. Male bill length 51-61 (57); female 40-52 (48) mm.

Distribution

Breeds in Kokchetav uplands, in Kalbinskiy Altai at Sibinskiye lake, in Western and Southern Altai on Ulba and Bukhtarma rivers, on Saur, Tarbagatay and Dzhungarskiy Alatau ridges. Widespread on migration. Rare wintering on Irtysh river, Bukhtarma river, Markakol lake and lakes of southern and south-eastern Kazakhstan; in mild winters on the Aral Sea at Barsa-Kelmes.

References

Gavrilov E. I., Gavrilov A. E. "The Birds of Kazakhstan". Almaty, 2005. Э.И.Гаврилов. "Фауна и распространение птиц Казахстана". Алматы, 1999.