Large, elongated, heavy sawbilled duck with a big head; males very striking, females clean-cut grey, white and red-brown.

A big, fish-eating, sawbilled duck, the Goosander is one of the most impressive of Europe’s wildfowl. It can be seen on the sea, but is more of a freshwater bird than the Red-breasted Merganser, both when breeding and in winter. Both are persecuted because of their fish-eating habits, although there is no proof that they affect the numbers of fish in the rivers they occupy.