Surf Scoter
Surf Scoters are common along both coasts of North America as far south as the Gulf of California and Florida in winter. They often forage in the shallow water just off shore in their coastal wintering grounds, frequently "scoting" (scooting) or diving through oncoming breaking waves. When swimming under water, Surf Scoters hold their wings halfway open. Mollusks and crustaceans make up the majority of the winter diet, along with echinoderms and marine worms to a lesser extent.

Pairs form during winter and early spring while Surf Scoters are still in large flocks. There is a long period of courtship and displaying, during which several males surround and perform before a single female. She may incite them by lifting her chin and giving a crow-like call. Male displays include bowing and ritualized postures with the head and neck extended, or the chest raised out of the water. Short display flights away from the group end when the male skids to a stop with the wings raised almost to the point of touching. The male then swims rapidly back to the others to resume displaying. Threatening postures and frequent underwater chases are also part of the mating ritual.

The breeding range of the Surf Scoter includes two separate areas, one in interior Quebec and Labrador and a greater range including most of Alaska and extending east through the Northwest Territories to the southern Hudson Bay. The breeding biology of Surf Scoters is not well studied. Surf Scoters nest in brushy or wooded habitat along freshwater lakes and rivers and bogs, or in the open tundra, with nests often at some distance from water. The female conceals her nest within a clump of dwarf willows or small spruces, or in a hummock of grass. The nest is a hollow lined with grass and other plant matter, feathers, and down. The female incubates the five to seven creamy or pinkish eggs, and tends the young. Her mate leaves soon after the young have hatched and retires to the coast to molt. Nonbreeding females also depart the breeding grounds early to molt. The young leave the nest soon after hatching and begin life on the water. Although their mothers may tend them, they forage for themselves, eating aquatic insects, fish eggs, and small amounts of aquatic vegetation. The first flight occurs at about eight weeks.
Surf Scoter Range Map

Surf Scoters migrate south in flocks, stopping to rest on inland waters. Over land the flights tend to be high up. While most proceed to the coasts, a few may spend the winter on the Great Lakes and other bodies of fresh water. Most of these are apparently females and immature birds.

Description: Male Surf Scoters are readily recognized by white markings on their heads and by their colorful bills. Females and immature birds are similar in appearance to other scoter species. The male's head and body are solid black except for a long triangle of white, point down, on the nape, and by a smaller white patch on the forehead. The iris is white, and the legs are orange-red. The swollen bill has a pale yellow tip, yellow underside, a black spot surrounded by white at the sides, and red on the top.

Females have dusky heads with slightly darker crowns and indistinct whitish patches on the head: at the nape as in the male, at the side of the head, and a vertical patch behind the bill. The wings, tail and body are blackish brown, somewhat lighter at the abdomen. The legs are dull yellowish brown. Immature males acquire the black body feathering and white nape, but not the white forehead patch of the males, during the first winter. The bill increases in size and coloring during the spring, but the white forehead patch completing the adult plumage does not grow in until the second fall.


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