Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus)Where and when to see it in the UK

Status not yet classified · reporting peaks May · Ducks, Swans, and Geese · BOU category AE

Records to 2026-08-16 · build 2026-08-31

Rhododendrites, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Peak months

Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (grid squares, place names from OS Open Names). Northern Ireland place names: OSNI Open Data, OGL v3.0. County and country boundaries: Office for National Statistics, Open Government Licence v3.0. Coastline: Natural Earth. Bird records from the data partners listed here.

Hooded Merganser has been recorded in 50 of the 2,971 10 km squares covering UK land (2%) in records to 2026. Its strongest squares are in England, Scotland and Wales. Reporting peaks in May.

Conservation status: Least Concern (IUCN Red List, LC)

View on the IUCN Red List

Very high: 100% or more of visits
High: 2% to 100%
Moderate: <1% to 2%
Low: under <1%
Surveyed, not recorded: at least 20 qualifying visits, no record
Insufficient records: too few visits to say
Lighter fill: Few visits, lower confidence
Small dot: Occasional: a single record, or out of season

Seasonality

Reporting rate by month, relative to the peak month
Month	Relative to peak	Share of visits	Typical class
January	69%	<1%	Moderate
February	46%	<1%	Very high
March	23%	<1%	Low
April	44%	<1%	Low
May	100%	<1%	High
June	7%	<1%	Moderate
July	2%	<1%	Very high
August	1%	<1%	Very high
September	4%	<1%	Low
October	28%	<1%	Low
November	14%	<1%	Very high
December	52%	<1%	Very high

Squares with the highest reporting rate in May

Square	Where	Share of visits	Class
TM14	Suffolk, England	100%	Very high
TQ27	Wandsworth, England	100%	Very high
TQ38	Hackney, England	100%	Very high
HU25	Shetland Islands, Scotland	60%	High
SD59	Westmorland and Furness, England	44%	High
NO35	Angus, Scotland	15%	High
SY68	Dorset, England	2%	High
TL91	Essex, England	1%	Moderate
SY67	Dorset, England	1%	Moderate
NZ52	Redcar and Cleveland, England	<1%	Low