Male hooded merganser, Oregon, United States 18 Nov 2025

Each autumn, the quiet waterways of Oregon, United States, become seasonal waypoints for hooded mergansers—small diving ducks native to North America. They are agile divers, plunging beneath the surface to catch fish and other prey. Males, known as drakes, stand out with their fan-shaped white crests, dark heads and chestnut-brown sides, while females, called hens, are brownish grey with smaller crests. Oregon"s lakes and wetlands provide sheltered feeding grounds as these birds migrate or winter across the continent.

© Eric Vogt/TANDEM Stills + Motion

palette

Today in History

Keyholes to the kingdom
18 Nov 2023Polar bear season in Manitoba
18 Nov 2024Porthcawl lighthouse, Wales

More Desktop Wallpapers:

Gateway to Iberia
29 Oct 2023Bonaventure Cemetery, Savannah, Georgia, USA
20 Jan 2026Penguin Awareness Day
12 Jun 2025Big Bend National Park, Texas, United States
17 Jun 2025Maritime forest in Cumberland Island National Seashore, Georgia, United States
Is it art?
Happy 70th to the North York Moors
10 Oct 2025Fiji Day
7 Jan 2025Moeraki Boulders, South Island, New Zealand
20 Dec 2025Christmas star lanterns, Germany
Lighting the way
Aug 20, 2023International Lighthouse Weekend
International Mountain Day
1 Jul 2025Happy Canada Day!
6 Nov 2024Shi Shi Beach, Olympic National Park, Washington, United States
26 May 2025Baobab trees, Avenue of the Baobabs, Madagascar
An island park
20 Mar 2024Spring equinox
26 Nov 2024Celebrating World Olive Tree Day
12 Sep 2024World Dolphin Day
20 Aug 2024Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, USA
Surrounded by a sea of sand
Park of the Monsters
14 Aug 2025Cable car station on Piz Nair mountain, Graubünden, Switzerland
Mountains of sand
4 Aug 2025Great grey owls in their nest, Finland
5 Apr 2025Grand National
14 Nov 2023Russell lupines, Lake Tekapo, New Zealand
25 Nov 2023Toledo, Spain
21 Apr 2025International Dark Sky Week