Anguilla, Antigua And Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Canada, Cuba, Dominica, Guadeloupe, Haiti, Martinique, Mexico, Montserrat, Puerto Rico, St Kitts And Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and The Grenadines, Turks and Caicos Islands, USA (B).
Vagrant to Finland, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, St Pierre and Miquelon (NB) (P), Virgin Islands (U.S.).
South-eastern Alaska south to Oregon; south-eastern Canada south to Mississippi valley.
 
Population
Estimated population is 270,000 - 390,000 (2010).
Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus) [XC372597]
by Jonathon Jongsma from New York (near Lansing), Tompkins County, New York, United States (flight call)
Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus) [XC16429]
by Andrew Spencer from Skidaway Island, Chatham County, GA USA, United States (call)
Subspecies
Hybridization with other species of Mergus reported rarely in captivity.