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Smews are relatively small aquatic birds related to the mergansers and Bucephala ducks. Their plumage is dimorphic, i.e. males and females are different. Their erectile head feathers give them a permanently freshly preened look. Male Smews are unmistakeable. They have black lores and a narrow black "V" on the back of their head/neck. Otherwise, head, neck and front are all-white. The sides are light-grey, while the back and the flight feathers are dark-grey to black. Rump and uppertail are mid-grey. Females and first-winter immature Smews have a dark-brown head with dark-brown lores and a broad white chin patch. The rest of the body plumage, when seen floating on water, is almost entirely grey, with some darker grey showing on the flight feathers. Only in flight one can see that, except for the front of the neck, the underparts are white. Broad white wing bars and narrow white trailing edges on the inner wings are also visible only in flight. Both sexes have dark irises, small triangular grey bills and dark-grey legs and feet. Juveniles generally resemble females, but with less prominet lores and they have a front that is more mottled-grey, rather than white.

The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org .

The global distribution of the Smew is available HERE .

Smews are a migratory Eurasian species. Their range extends along almost the entire width of Europe and Asia, from southern England and northern Scandinavia in the West to far-eastern Siberia, Kamchatka, Japan and, on passage, parts of the Aleutian island chain in the East. They breed in a wide area from northern Scandinavia to far-eastern Asia, while they overwinter in wetlands from western/central Europe to southern/eastern China, South Korea and Japan.

In Europe Smews breed in boreal forest from northern Scandinavia, parts of the Kola peninsula and north-western Russia (except the western and northern coastal fringes). Their winter quarters extend from southern England to central Europe (from northern France and the Benelux countries to Denmark, northern Germany and Poland. They also overwinter in large parts of the Danube valley, from southern Germany to Hungary and on to the Black Sea coastline. In central Germany, southern Poland, the Baltic states and around the Baltic Sea they are found only during their migration. Other migration routes lead from the northern coastlines of the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea to northern Russia.

Smews are tree hollow-nesting birds that, during their breeding season, have a strong preference for boreal forest, usually near clear lakes or calm streams. Outside the breeding season they favour often well-vegetated fresh water wetlands, including urban parks.

M. Eaton reports spotting a Smew at St. James's Park, London, England, in September 2019. All sighting and photographic information presented on this page has kindly been contributed by M. Eaton.