From Opus

Male, subspecies nigra
Photo by Rob
The Netherlands, February 2003

Alternative name: Common Scoter

Melanitta nigra

Includes: American Scoter

[edit] Identification

45-49cm
Male: All black; very bulbous, mostly yellow bill.
Female: Brown with pale cheeks and may have some yellow around the nostils.

Male American Scoter
Photo by Luc
Barrage Sartigan-Québec, Canada, November 2005

[edit] Similar Species

Females can be confused with female Red-crested Pochard which has a white wing bar and Long-tailed Duck which has a smaller bill and much whiter underparts.

[edit] Distribution

Far north of North America in Labrador and Newfoundland to the southeast Hudson Bay, in Alaska. It winters further south on the coasts of the northern USA and Canada, and in Asia as far south as China.

Northern Eurasia; winters western Europe to Mediterranean and Caspian Sea. There are a few breeding areas in northern Scotland and Ireland.

[edit] Taxonomy

Female, subspecies nigra
Photo by IanF
Hartlepool, Cleveland. UK, December 2008

[edit] Subspecies^[1]

• M. n. nigra Black Scoter (Eurasian):

• Northern Eurasia; winters western Europe to Mediterranean and Caspian Sea

• M. n. americana Black Scoter (American):

• Breeds northern Siberia to Alaska; winters to northern US

Americana has been split as the American Scoter M. americana by some authorities^[2]

[edit] Habitat

Winters on sea-coasts, usually at some distance from the shore.
Breeds on inland lakes or rivers, in woodland or tundra.

[edit] Behaviour

• Gregarious, may form very large flocks, especially with Velvet Scoter.
  
• Pointed tail is often raised.
  
• Spring migration takes place overland at night.
• Autumn migration is along the coast during the day.

Photo by Carpie
Terschelling, Holland, December 2007

[edit] Flight

• Flies low to the water in long lines. Flight is strong and rapid.
  
• Dives with a small leap.

[edit] Diet

The diet includes crustaceans and molluscs, insects and their larvae, fish eggs and vegetation such as duck weed while nesting on freshwater.

[edit] Breeding

The nest is built on the ground. The clutch consists of 5-7 eggs and are incubated for 27 to 31 days.

[edit] Vocalisation

[edit] References

1. Clements, JF. 2008. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2008. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist.
2. Avibase
3. Birdwatchers Pocket Guide ISBN 1-85732-804-3
4. Collins Pocket Guide to British Birds 1966
5. Collins Field Guide 5th Edition
6. Collins Bird Guide ISBN 0 00 219728 6

• List of references

[edit] External Links