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Common mergansers and hooded mergansers are seen in great numbers in New England early spring.  Hooded mergansers ("hoodies") are so named for the head feathers that fans into a distinct hammerhead crest for males, less so for females.  Breeding drakes have a large white stripe on the head, absent in the female.  The eye is golden.  Hoodies are our smallest mergansers with an average length of 18" and a 24" wingspan, about the same size as a wood duck.  They do not congregate with other ducks and tend to swim about in pairs.  Common mergansers are considerably larger than hoodies with an average length of 25" and a 3 foot wingspan.  The male has an all-white body with a greenish-black neck and a day-glo orange sawbill with a long heavy base.   The female has a rust-colored head and a gray body.  In mid-summer a female common merganser may be seen on the water leading and babysitting a long line of chicks, sometimes including chicks from other families.  These photos were taken in March 2008 primarily at Arcadia Wildlife Sanctuary, Easthampton, Massachusetts