A Hooded Merganser in flight over the duck ponds from my recent Better than Bosque Workshop in New Mexico.

Slim and swift on the wing, mergansers are unique among ducks in that they have slender, saw-toothed bills to grab fish and other prey in underwater dives. The most petite and elegant of the three merganser species is the Hooded Merganser, which has a fan-shaped white crest bordered with black (tucked back in this flight image). Unlike the other mergansers, “hoodies” rarely gather in flocks and usually winter on small ponds.