Appearance
The hooded merganser is a sexually dimorphic species. The female has a brown body, with a white underside and a light brown crest extending from the back of the head. The male has a similar appearance during nonbreeding season (although his eyes are yellow while the female's are brown). During breeding season, however, the male's plumage changes color: The head, back and neck become black, with white stripes near the chest and tail, and the bird develops a white crest on the back of the head that can be extended to attract mates.
First-winter birds differ from adult females, in having a grey-brown neck and upperparts (black on adult females), and narrower white tertial-edges than adults; all females are dark-eyed whereas in first-winter males, a pale eye is acquired during the winter.
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