Common Merganser - Taxonomy

Taxonomy

There are three subspecies, differing in only minor detail:

• M. m. merganser Linnaeus, 1758. Throughout northern Europe and northern Asia.
• M. m. orientalis Gould, 1845 (syn. M. m. comatus Salvadori, 1895). Central Asian mountains. Slightly larger than M. m. merganser, with a slenderer bill.
• M. m. americanus Cassin, 1852. North America. Bill broader-based than in than M. m. merganser, and a black bar crossing the white inner wing (visible in flight) on males.