Bird

Hooded Merganser

Lophodytes cucullatus

Lives in North Carolina all year and nests here. Found in all 100 counties, across 22 habitats.

Here: All year
Nesting: Nests here
Range: All 100 counties
Habitats: 22

Male Hooded Merganser, whole bird — **Male**. (c) Justin Flint, some rights reserved (CC BY). CC BY. iNaturalist photo 243821467. iNaturalist large derivative; no local crop or retouch.

At a glance

Group: Birds
Here: All year
Nesting: Nests here
Range: All 100 counties
Habitats: 22
Habitat models: Summer, Winter

Where it lives

The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.

Habitats in North Carolina 22

Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

1 of 22

SummerWinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Blackwater Stream Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier; South-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Forest Modifier; Southern Piedmont Large Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier; Central Interior and Appalachian Floodplain Systems; Central Interior and Appalachian Riparian Systems; Southern Piedmont Small Floodplain and Riparian Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Brownwater River Floodplain Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Blackwater River Floodplain Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Brownwater Stream Floodplain Forest; South-Central Interior Small Stream and Riparian; South-Central Interior Large FloodplainNamed place / source context. Shown: Congaree Swamp National Monument floodplain forest, South Carolina; representative illustration, no exact viewpoint, a neighboring state.fallen (uprooted) tree, John Dawson, by1988. Public domain. Source record.

SummerCentral Atlantic Coastal Plain Wet Longleaf Pine Savanna and FlatwoodsGeorge Inness, Georgia Pines (1890): tall, straight pines over an open, grassy floor in a south Georgia pine woods. Regional view: the painting does not name the exact site. Shown: Georgia pine woods (George Inness, 1890; site not named), a neighboring state.Georgia Pines, George Inness (1825-1894), 1890. Public domain. Source record.

SummerWinterOpen Water (Fresh); Atlantic Coastal Plain Large Natural LakeshoreRegional / representative. Shown: Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, Georgia; representative pond ecosystem, a neighboring state.Georgia pond and emergent wetland, Robert 'Bob' Hynes, 1997. Public domain. Source record.

SummerWinterCentral Interior and Appalachian Riparian Systems; South-Central Interior Small Stream and RiparianFrederic Edwin Church, Autumn Landscape in North Carolina (1865-70): a boulder-strewn mountain river under autumn-coloured ridges. Regional view: the painting does not name the exact site. North Carolina mountains (Frederic Edwin Church, oil sketch 1865-70; Cooper Hewitt)*Drawing, Autumn Landscape in North Carolina, 1865–70*, Frederic Edwin Church, 1865-1870. Public domain. Source record.

SummerWinterCentral Interior and Appalachian Swamp Systems; Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Tidal Wooded Swamp; Atlantic Coastal Plain Nonriverine Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest - Taxodium/Nyssa Modifier; Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Forested Wetland; Southern Piedmont/Ridge and Valley Upland Depression SwampNamed place / source context. Great Dismal Swamp, North Carolina, as titled by Museum of Fine Arts Boston; nineteenth-century artistic interpretationView, Dismal Swamp, North Carolina, Regis Francois Gignoux, 1850. Public domain. Source record.

Coastal dunes and beaches

Open sand of beaches, dunes and the hollows between them.

WinterUnconsolidated Shore (Beach/Dune); Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Dune and Maritime Grassland; Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain Interdunal Wetland

Depression ponds and limesinks

Shallow ponds in Coastal Plain depressions, such as limesinks and the ponds in some Carolina bays, that rise and fall with the seasons.

SummerWinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Herbaceous Wetland

Disturbed and introduced wetlands

Wet ground taken over by weedy or introduced plants after disturbance, such as common reed, Chinese tallow or tamarisk stands; the upland counterpart is roadsides, fields and disturbed ground.

Summer

Freshwater tidal marshes

Marshes along tidal rivers where the water is fresh but rises and falls with the tide.

SummerWinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Embayed Region Tidal Freshwater Marsh; Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh

Hardwood and oak flatwoods

Flat, poorly drained uplands and terraces with oaks, sweetgum and sometimes loblolly pine, wet in winter and dry in summer, but neither a floodplain nor a swamp.

SummerWinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Nonriverine Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest - Oak Dominated Modifier

Mountain bogs and fens

Wet, open, peaty mountain wetlands fed by seepage, often with sphagnum moss.

SummerWinter

Pine savannas

Open, fire-kept longleaf pine stands over grasses and wildflowers on wet to moist sandy soil.

SummerCentral Atlantic Coastal Plain Wet Longleaf Pine Savanna and Flatwoods

Salt and brackish marshes

Coastal marshes flooded by salty or brackish tides.

WinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Central Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh; Atlantic Coastal Plain Embayed Region Tidal Salt and Brackish Marsh

Sounds, bays and tidal flats

Salt and brackish open water of sounds, bays and estuaries, with the mud and sand flats and seagrass beds that tides cover and uncover; the vegetated marsh is salt and brackish marshes.

WinterOpen Water (Brackish/Salt)

SummerOnly within 60 m of water.Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Loblolly Pine ModifierNamed place / source context. Shown: Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, Georgia, a neighboring state.Trail on Little Kennesaw Mountain., Unidentified in HFC record, undated. Public domain. Source record.

SummerOnly within 60 m of water.Southern and Central Appalachian Cove ForestRegional / representative. Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina and Tennessee; representative habitat composite, not a documented exact viewpointCove hardwood forest, Hynes, Robert 'Bob', by 2012. Public domain. Source record.

SummerOnly within 60 m of water.Regional / representative. Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina and Tennessee; representative habitat composite, not a documented exact viewpointSpruce-fir forest, Hynes, Robert 'Bob', by 2012. Public domain. Source record.

Dry forests and woodlands

Forests and open woodlands on dry ridges and slopes, often oak or pine.

SummerOnly within 60 m of water.Southern and Central Appalachian Oak Forest - Xeric; Central and Southern Appalachian Montane Oak Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Dry and Dry-Mesic Oak Forest; Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Hardwood Modifier; Southeastern Interior Longleaf Pine Woodland; Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest; Southern Appalachian Montane Pine Forest and Woodland; Southern Appalachian Low Mountain Pine Forest

Moderately dry forests

Forests between dry and moist, often oak-hickory on slopes.

SummerOnly within 60 m of water.Southern and Central Appalachian Oak Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Dry and Dry-Mesic Oak Forest

Moist forests

Forests on moist but not wet ground, such as rich slopes and ravines.

SummerOnly within 60 m of water.Southern Piedmont Mesic Forest; Southern and Central Appalachian Cove Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Mesic Hardwood and Mixed Forest

Northern hardwood forests

High mountain forests of beech, yellow birch and sugar maple, including boulderfield forests.

SummerOnly within 60 m of water.

Sandhills

Dry, deep-sand ridges with longleaf pine and turkey oak, kept open by fire.

SummerOnly within 60 m of water.Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Open Understory Modifier; Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Scrub/Shrub Understory Modifier

Other habitats in its models (118)

Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in North Carolina. Those recorded in North Carolina first, the rest by region.

In North Carolina 1

Atlantic Coastal Plain Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland Summer, only within 60 m of water.

Elsewhere in the South (60)

Atlantic Coastal Plain Indian River Lagoon Tidal Marsh Winter.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Wet Pine Savanna and Flatwoods Summer.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Xeric River Dune Winter.
Central and South Texas Coastal Fringe Forest and Woodland Summer, only within 60 m of water.
Central Florida Herbaceous Pondshore Winter.
Central Florida Pine Flatwoods Summer, only within 60 m of water.
Central Interior Highlands Calcareous Glade and Barrens Summer, only within 60 m of water.
Central Interior Highlands Dry Acidic Glade and Barrens Summer, only within 60 m of water.
Crosstimbers Oak Forest and Woodland Summer, only within 60 m of water.
Cumberland Riverscour Winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Dune and Coastal Grassland Winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Limestone Forest Summer, only within 60 m of water.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods Summer, only within 60 m of water.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Dry Upland Hardwood Forest Summer, only within 60 m of water.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Bluff Forest Summer, only within 60 m of water.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Mesic Hardwood Forest Summer, only within 60 m of water.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Floodplain Forest Summer and winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Loblolly-Hardwood Flatwoods Summer, only within 60 m of water.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Loess Bluff Forest Summer, only within 60 m of water.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Mesic Slope Forest Summer, only within 60 m of water.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Tidal Wooded Swamp Summer and winter.
East-Central Texas Plains Pine Forest and Woodland Summer, only within 60 m of water.
East-Central Texas Plains Post Oak Savanna and Woodland Summer, only within 60 m of water.
East-Central Texas Plains Riparian Forest Summer.
Edwards Plateau Limestone Savanna and Woodland Summer, only within 60 m of water.
Florida Big Bend Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Winter.
Florida Big Bend Salt-Brackish Tidal Marsh Winter.
Floridian Highlands Freshwater Marsh Winter.
Lower Mississippi River Dune Woodland and Forest Summer.
Lower Mississippi River Flatwoods Summer, only within 60 m of water.
Mississippi River Alluvial Plain Dry-Mesic Loess Slope Forest Summer, only within 60 m of water.
Mississippi River Bottomland Depression Summer.
Mississippi River Low Floodplain (Bottomland) Forest Summer and winter.
Mississippi River Riparian Forest Summer and winter.
Mississippi Sound Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh Winter.
Northern Crowley's Ridge Sand Forest Summer, only within 60 m of water.
Ouachita Montane Oak Forest Summer, only within 60 m of water.
Ozark-Ouachita Dry Oak Woodland Summer, only within 60 m of water.
Ozark-Ouachita Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Summer, only within 60 m of water.
Ozark-Ouachita Mesic Hardwood Forest Summer, only within 60 m of water.
Ozark-Ouachita Riparian Summer.
Ozark-Ouachita Shortleaf Pine-Bluestem Woodland Summer, only within 60 m of water.
Ozark-Ouachita Shortleaf Pine-Oak Forest and Woodland Summer, only within 60 m of water.
Red River Large Floodplain Forest Summer.
Ridge and Valley Calcareous Valley Bottom Glade and Woodland Summer, only within 60 m of water.
South Florida Bayhead Swamp Winter.
South-Central Interior / Upper Coastal Plain Flatwoods Summer, only within 60 m of water.
South-Central Interior / Upper Coastal Plain Wet Flatwoods Summer.
South-Central Interior Mesophytic Forest Summer, only within 60 m of water.
Southern Coastal Plain Blackwater River Floodplain Forest Summer and winter.
Southern Coastal Plain Dry Upland Hardwood Forest Summer, only within 60 m of water.
Southern Coastal Plain Hydric Hammock Summer.
Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp Summer.
Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Cypress Dome Summer.
Southern Coastal Plain Oak Dome and Hammock Summer.
Southern Coastal Plain Seepage Swamp and Baygall Summer.
Southern Crowley's Ridge Mesic Loess Slope Forest Summer, only within 60 m of water.
Southern Interior Low Plateau Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Summer, only within 60 m of water.
Southern Ridge and Valley Dry Calcareous Forest Summer, only within 60 m of water.
Southwest Florida Dune and Coastal Grassland Winter.

Northeast (11)

Acadian Low-Elevation Spruce-Fir-Hardwood Forest Summer, only within 60 m of water.
Appalachian Hemlock-Hardwood Forest Summer, only within 60 m of water.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Fresh and Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Winter.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Tidal Salt Marsh Winter.
Central Appalachian Alkaline Glade and Woodland Summer, only within 60 m of water.
Central Appalachian Oak and Pine Forest Summer, only within 60 m of water.
Central Appalachian Pine-Oak Rocky Woodland Summer, only within 60 m of water.
North-Central Interior Wet Flatwoods Summer.
Northeastern Interior Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Summer, only within 60 m of water.
Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Basin Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest Summer.
Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Dry Hardwood Forest Summer, only within 60 m of water.

Midwest (5)

North-Central Interior Beech-Maple Forest Summer, only within 60 m of water.
North-Central Interior Dry Oak Forest and Woodland Summer, only within 60 m of water.
North-Central Interior Dry-Mesic Oak Forest and Woodland Summer, only within 60 m of water.
North-Central Interior Maple-Basswood Forest Summer, only within 60 m of water.
North-Central Interior Oak Savanna Summer, only within 60 m of water.

Land cover and other classes (41)

Allegheny-Cumberland Dry Oak Forest and Woodland - Hardwood Summer, only within 60 m of water.
Allegheny-Cumberland Dry Oak Forest and Woodland - Pine Modifier Summer, only within 60 m of water.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-Line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Loblolly Modifier Summer, only within 60 m of water.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Summer, only within 60 m of water.
Central Appalachian Riparian - Forest Modifier Summer and winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Black Belt Calcareous Prairie and Woodland - Herbaceous Modifier Summer, only within 60 m of water.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Black Belt Calcareous Prairie and Woodland - Woodland Modifier Summer, only within 60 m of water.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Shortleaf Pine-Oak Forest - Hardwood Modifier Summer, only within 60 m of water.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Shortleaf Pine-Oak Forest - Mixed Modifier Summer, only within 60 m of water.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Loblolly Modifier Summer, only within 60 m of water.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Summer, only within 60 m of water.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Open Understory Modifier Summer, only within 60 m of water.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Scrub/Shrub Modifier Summer, only within 60 m of water.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Jackson Plain Dry Flatwoods - Open Understory Modifier Summer, only within 60 m of water.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier Summer and winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Herbaceous Modifier Summer and winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Summer, only within 60 m of water.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods - Open Understory Modifier Summer, only within 60 m of water.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods - Scrub/Shrub Understory Modifier Summer, only within 60 m of water.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Dry Upland Hardwood Forest - Offsite Pine Modifier Summer, only within 60 m of water.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Plain Oak-Hickory Upland - Hardwood Modifier Summer, only within 60 m of water.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Plain Oak-Hickory Upland - Juniper Modifier Summer, only within 60 m of water.
Eastern Great Plains Floodplain Systems Summer.
Florida Longleaf Pine Sandhill - Open Understory Modifier Summer, only within 60 m of water.
Florida Longleaf Pine Sandhill - Scrub/Shrub Understory Modifier Summer, only within 60 m of water.
Lower Mississippi River Bottomland Depressions - Forest Modifier Summer and winter.
Mississippi River Floodplain and Riparian Forest Summer.
Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest - Mixed Modifier Summer, only within 60 m of water.
Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest - Virginia/Pitch Pine Modifier Summer, only within 60 m of water.
Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest-Hardwood Modifier Summer, only within 60 m of water.
South-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Herbaceous Modifier Summer and winter.
Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Bay/Gum Modifier Summer.
Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Clethra Modifier Summer.
Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Nupea Modifier Summer.
Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Pine Modifier Summer.
Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Taxodium Modifier Summer.
Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Mixed Modifier Summer, only within 60 m of water.
Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-Heath Forest - Mixed Modifier Summer, only within 60 m of water.
Southern Ridge and Valley Dry Calcareous Forest - Pine modifier Summer, only within 60 m of water.
Unconsolidated Shore Winter.
Unconsolidated Shore (Lake/River/Pond) Winter.

All habitats

Seasons in North Carolina

Year-round: nests here, in all 100 counties.

Also found in its main habitats

Its main habitats in North Carolina, by how much of its habitat model each one is, with the birds most characteristic of each and the plants that grow wild there. Shared habitat, not food.

Hooded Merganser uses many habitats in North Carolina; these are its 3 most characteristic.