#0641 · 🐦 birds

Red-breasted Merganser

🇳🇱 Middelste zaagbek ·Mergus serrator

LCleast concern 🐦 Birds 📍 in the Netherlands

9 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences

what is it?

The red-breasted merganser ( Mergus serrator ) is a diving duck, one of the sawbills. The genus name is a Latin word used by Pliny and other Roman authors to refer to an unspecified waterbird, and serrator is a sawyer from Latin serra , "saw".

base stats

NL sightings 343iNaturalist, research grade
worldwide 58,569iNaturalist observations
weight 1.1 kgadult, up to
threat LCleast concern

Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).

fun facts

Spotted 343 times in the Netherlands on iNaturalist.
58,569 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
Weighs up to about 1.1 kg.
Scientifically named in 1758 (268 years ago).

fact sheet

English: Red-breasted Merganser
Nederlands: Middelste zaagbek
scientific name: Mergus serrator
class: Aves
order: Anseriformes
family: Anatidae
IUCN Red List: LC · least concern
sightings in NL: 343
sightings in Europe: 9,145
sightings worldwide: 58,569
GBIF records in NL: 124,531
weight: 1.1 kg
length: —
lifespan: —
named: 1758

IUCN in Dutch: niet bedreigd. Blank means the sources don't say.

relatives· Anatidae

Sources: iNaturalist taxon 6996, Wikidata Q189609, GBIF 2498375, Wikipedia (EN), Wikipedia (NL). Intro text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.