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ScoterBlack Scoters are diving ducks that feed on mussels and other shellfish. While underwater, scoters steer by holding their wings partially open. They also use their wings and feet for underwater propulsion. Black Scoters are the least known and rarest of the three species of scoters occurring in North America. The Eurasian race (M. n. nigra) is known as Common Scoter and is widespread across northern Europe and Russia. Some authorities consider it to be a separate species from the North American race (M. n. americana). The males of the two subspecies can be distinguished easily based on bill shape and coloration, but females look alike. In North America, Black Scoters have two isolated breeding areas, one in northern Quebec, and the other from the coastal tundra of Alaska east to the central Alaska Range. Black Scoter Range Map On their breeding grounds, Black Scoters are very vocal. Males whistle plaintively while females give a low growl. Only a few nest sites have been observed, but it appears that females construct nests of grass lined with feathers and down in depressions sheltered by overhanging shrubs or tussocks of grass. Nest sites are usually within 100 feet of shallow clear freshwater lakes. The summer diet consists of insects-especially caddisflies, other small invertebrates, fish eggs, and some vegetable food. Around the first week in June in Quebec, or later in Alaska, the female begins incubating 8 - 9 eggs. The precocial young immediately start foraging for themselves on the water's surface. Their mother broods them at night when they are small, and attends them for a few weeks. Occasionally broods join together in a creche. The female leaves her offspring to fend for themselves before they can fly, at 6 to 7 weeks. Male Black Scoters abandon their mates and migrate to molting sites as soon as the females begin incubation. Unsuccessful females join the migration soon after the males have departed. Large flocks molt their flight feathers during late June and July in the Hudson and James Bays, and along the western coasts of Alaska and Canada. Black Scoters winter on saltwater, in sheltered bays and shallow coastal waters. Some Black Scoters migrate from their molting sites to the coast of southern Alaska, British Columbia and Washington, and less commonly as far south as northern Baja California. In the East they may be found from Maine to the Carolinas, with some remaining along the migration routes on the Great Lakes. In the winter Black Scoters feed primarily on mollusks, especially mussels and clams. They gather in typically monospecific flocks and dive to depths of about 20 feet, and sometimes as deep as 40 feet. Black Scoters begin their return migration in early spring and arrive on the breeding grounds as the ice is breaking up on rivers and lakes. Description: Black Scoters are medium-sized sea ducks with relatively long tails. On the underside of the primary feathers, both sexes display a silvery sheen that is visible in flight. At a distance they may be hard to distinguish from Surf Scoters. When on the water, Black Scoters hold their heads high with the bills horizontal or pointing up, not pointing down as in other scoters. The adult male Black Scoter is the only all-black duck in North America and displays a prominent swollen yellow knob on the bill. The unrelated American Coot is superficially similar but has a white bill and white under the tail. Adult female Black Scoters are dark brown with whitish cheeks and throats and dark crowns. The females of the other two scoter species are similar, but show two white spots on the side of the head. In the juvenal plumage the sexes are alike, with deep brown upperparts that are paler on the neck, chest and flanks, fading into the lighter color of the underparts. The sides of the head are grayish white. In early to mid-winter males begin to show black feathers on the head and neck, and their bills begin to attain the adult shape and color. Visit Shaw
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