Silly question here, have any of you had problems with a hooded merganser? I have found a male and female on my pond at different times. I know they eat fish and have seen them diving but don't know how many they would clear out in a day. I want to find a way to get rid of them without shooting them. I was thinking of a snake or something floating in the pond ...etc

Every time I go out they fly away but they seem to be nesting in the woods behind the pond somewhere. I wouldnt mind having them around except my pond is a bit small for them and they might eat all the fish there.

My perch are in the 8 - 10 inch range and the SMB are in their second year and I am assuming somewhere in the range of 6 - 8 inches. I have many minnows but would hate to see the ducks take anything more out than they already have. Thus any ideas or thoughts from those who have dealt with them prior would be appreciated.

Eric,
You may, or may not, have seen this thread that peripherally touched on the same bird: predatory bird link
Norm Kopecky makes some wise observations, as do others. Me, well...I'm pretty soft on the potential damage a Hooded Merganser can do, but that's easy for me cuz my pond is far from complete.

Hooded Mergansers are fish eaters, but small fish only. They are a small bird and if you only have a pair, I can't see how they will be a problem for you. I doubt that they could handle a fish more than a few inches in size.

Thanks I had not seen that thread. I am going to continue to scare that one off when I see them. I like leaving the small space I have for the mallards and wood ducks. Plus I have such a tight Eco system in a small pond, I want to keep everything there that I have. They may be pretty and some people enjoy seeing them, but when they are eating my fish they can leave!!!

I am going to try letting my boat float free on the pond and see if its movement keeps the bird away!

Eric, mallards and wood ducks are extremely common. To have hooded mergansers is truly special. If I had your choice, it would be hooded mergansers, hands down.

Norm, Thanks I am sure they are rare ( or so my mother, who is a birder, lets me know ) I am fortunate to have many rare birds in my backyard. I have nesting Bald Eagles, A migrating Road Runner, a few pairs of Piliated woodpeckers, Bluebirds, ...etc the list goes on and on.

I am sure that most of them are there because I have a blueberry farm and they are eating my crops, which in truth I am okay with to a point. I think that the Hooded Megansers are pretty birds but in a pond as small as mine I also know they can do tons of damage to the base forage fish. I am going to add many more Fatheads and Crayfish once they more on. I was glad to see they can not get to my perch or the SMB due to size issues.

Ahhh well I guess I will try to keep them off when I can and enjoy them when I can't

Eric proclaims:
YOU BOOGER!
Got them too...awesome critter, but has a killer pecker...quite destructive! Our last place, we had em nesting in an Oak right out in front of the deck. Man can they cut open a cavity within the tree! At the current/new place (home of the pond-to-be), they seem to like hangin out in a small grove of nasty Black Locust trees...good...peck away!
Good choice! Save the serious bird-removal for the Water Turkeys.

Hehehehe wasn't trying to rub anything in. The eagles and a few varieties of Hawks live in my woods out back and as such I have seen them take a squirrel off my back deck about 3 feet in front of me and a small cat out of my back yard as well as many other critters. I even saw them attack a coyote as he tried taking their kill. Awesome birds!!!

As for the woodpeckers, they have made some nice holes that the wood ducks are now using as their nesting spots. Bad news is that some of the other animals use them as well. Some of which go after the wood ducks.

The interesting thing on my small pond is that the ducks seem to take turns. In the AM it is the wood ducks turn, from 10 am until noon it is the Mallards turn, from 2 pm until 4 pm it seems to be the Hooded Mergansers turn. Somewhere in there the Herron comes in for a bit and then shows back up around dusk. Its like a regular amusement park out there, but every one of the groups always comes at their own time and keeps to themselves. Nature is very interesting that way!

...another facet of "pond envy".
(conflicting graemlins, meaning )

Hey I have a bit of envy seeing your project.

I keep telling my wife I want to buy an old farm field that is about 200 acres and take out about 50 to make a pond ( my own little lake ) and she ( being originally from NY city ) looks at me like I have gone nuts and says yeah just what we need a bigger hole in the ground for you putmoney into and get lost in!!!

She is not a nature lover like me. When we first got this house and property, prior to building the pond, there were tons of wild trukey and pheasants in the backyard daily. She came in the house screaming the first day when she let the dog out. She thought they were going to attack her!! Ahhh I guess love truly is blind!!! ( on both parts )

2 Mergansers will not have enough impact on your forage base to even notice. The heron will eat more pounds of fish than the mergansers.