Today's Bird: Red Breasted Merganser

Today's Bird is the Red Breasted Merganser! It's one of a few types of Mergansers that live in the US, but these guys are mostly found in salt or brackish water along coastlines.  My  range map also shows them on the Great Lakes.  If you spot one, look for a lean duck with a long beak (rather than a more spatula type) and a seriously bad hair day.  I actually ran into one this weekend at South Padre because they migrate through the Gulf, but I took this photo on a cold but beautiful winter birding trip to Gloucester, Massachusetts on December 29, 2011.