Lophodytes cucullatus 

ON EXHIBIT:  Delta Swamp at River Journey 

FUN FACTS
The male has a dark, thin bill with a dark face set off by a bright-yellow eye.  He has a  large black and white hood that can be raised.  His back is black, sides brown and the breast white. The female is mostly brown with a dark back and an all brown hood.

The hooded merganser is considered a "diving duck" and uses its rudder-like tail and strong rear-positioned legs to dive under water and catch its prey. It nests in tree cavities much like the wood duck and will sometimes dump its eggs in a wood duck nest and let the "woodie" raise the little "hoodies.”

CONSERVATION
The population of the hooded merganser is stable in the wild.  The Tennessee Aquarium has a male in the Delta Country exhibit and another male in the Nickajack Lake exhibit.