Hooded merganser - a good lookin' guy.

In the species that show sexual dimorphism, you have to appreciate the effect of selective breeding. Not every male wins a lady's affection just because he's a guy. Usually, he has to do something; preferably something spectacular. For the hooded merganser, that would be the male extending his "hood" in its full glory.

In his mating display, the male puts on quite a show. His hood stands erect and he extends his neck and bends it backward. It is amazing how this somewhat compact duck can extend its neck to such a great length. The resulting shape reminds me of a seahorse. The other thing that the male does is to utter vocalizations to attract his potential mate. You can hear the sound here (click bottom button).

Not all hoods and displays look the same. To the discerning female, each presentation proves the quality of the bearer's stock. I can appreciate how handsome the male looks, after all, he is a very pretty bird. What she sees in his croaking utterance is, in my mind, another thing entirely.

The hooded merganser is called the "frog-duck" in Georgia for a good reason. The male's voice sounds like the call of a frog (hear the sound the pickerel frog here.). The combination seems paradoxical (paraducksacle?) to me though. Beautiful feathers, wonderful hood, an irresistible display, combined with a rough guttural croaking that would make your hair curl if it wasn't that way already.

If there is anything to this selective breeding idea, where a female selects a mate based on his physical parameters and ability to display what he's got, I can understand that the species would continue to become more elaborate in the males' presentation. Ducks with better displays will more likely find mates and therefore pass their genes onto the next generation. If this were true though, wouldn't ducks' call evolve into something more pleasant as well? There must be some difference between individual utterances.

When it comes right down to it, it is not up to us what is considered desirable or attractive when it comes to the opinion of another species. The female recognizes the sound and the combination of display and sound seems to arouse her interest. He may not be a crooner like some lyrical birds, but she seems to like his rendition just fine. I guess beauty really is in the eye (or ear) of the beholder.

Thanks for reading.     Ericspix     Eric Svendsen