hooded merganser
- noun
- /ˈhʊdɪd mɜrˈɡænzər/
- US
:
pato merganser con capucha
- As we walked by the lake, we spotted several hooded mergansers swimming gracefully among the reeds.
Examples
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During spring, we often see a pair of hooded mergansers displaying their beautiful crests in the pond.
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Access had a couple of hooded mergansers on view.
Blog text (20) -
The male hooded merganser has a striking circular crest that makes it easy to identify.
Synonyms
A small North American duck whose male has tall round feathers on his head
A small North American duck whose male has a large fan-shaped crest
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'hooded' (having a hood-like crest) modifies 'merganser' (a type of duck), so a learner who knows both words will infer it denotes a merganser with a hooded crest. This modifier+noun species-name pattern is common and cross-linguistically transparent, making the expression immediately understandable to B1 learners.
Etymology
Hooded merganser gets its name from the bird's look and habit: the male can raise a high, round crest like a hood, and merganser is a word for a 'diving duck' that catches fish. That's why the name helps you picture a small duck with a hood-like crest that dives for food.
