Species Spotlight: Smew
Alex Levitskiy
I personally do not like the cold winter months, and I am sure people oftentimes wonder how wildlife thrives in the bitter cold. This week’s bird is the Smew (Mergellus albellus), one of my favorite ducks. This little diving duck is found in the northern taiga of Europe and Asia, regions where it can get quite cold. These ducks prove to be very hardy and survive in our climate readily. The drake, or male, has a mainly white body with distinct white markings, producing a visually appealing contrast. The hens, in my opinion, are not as drab as other species of waterfowl. They are gray with a chestnut forehead and crown. Both sexes have a slender, hooked bill with serrated edges, allowing them to easily catch fish. The ducklings are mainly black with white patches symmetrically distributed on their bodies. Smews need trees to reproduce, as they are cavity nesters like the previously discussed Mandarin Duck. They lay six to nine cream colored eggs, which are incubated by the mother. The mother will eventually call them out of the nest to jump, and once on land they will go onto the water, since they spend more time on water than dabbling ducks for example.
Smew are classified as least concern; however, their population is slowly declining due to things like oil pollution. Even in captivity, this duck requires clean water that is deep enough to dive. This duck is a more expensive duck to acquire, reflecting the difficulty to raise them. They are enjoyable to watch, especially when they dive, but they are not for beginning aviculturists. They require higher amounts of protein to substitute for all of the fish they eat in the wild. Care should be taken to make sure that they do not hybridize with Goldeneye or the Hooded Merganser.
Before concluding, I feel that the following tidbit of information is not widely known. Due to their bloodflow, ducks do not get frostbite from swimming in cold water. Their veins and arteries run very close to each other. The cold blood in the veins is warmed by the blood pumped through the arteries. Once the warm blood in the arteries gets to the feet, it is already cooled; therefore, not as much heat is lost. This helps maintain a duck’s core temperature better.
Swimming Smew Drake
Smew Hen
Photo Credit: Alex Levitskiy
