Surf Scoter

Surf Scoter, male

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Surf Scoter, female

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1. Description
2. Sound
3. Conservation Status
4. Other Names
5. Cool Facts
6. Full detailed species account

A black-and-white seaduck common on the Pacific and Atlantic coasts in winter, the Surf Scoter has a boldly patterned head that is the basis for its colloquial name "skunk-headed coot."

Description

• Large, stocky diving duck.
• Black.
• No white in wings.
• Male with one or two white patches on head.
• Female with whitish patches on face.

• Size: 48-60 cm (19-24 in)
• Wingspan: 77 cm (30 in)
• Weight: 953-1769 g (33.64-62.45 ounces)

Sex Differences

Male with bold white patches on head and bill colored white and orange; female less distinctly marked with smudgy face patches and dark bill.

Sound

Usually silent. Wings make humming noise in flight. Male makes low, clear whistle. Female makes croaking "krraak."

Conservation Status

Common. Populations may be declining.

Other Names

Macreuse à front blanc (French)
Negreta nuca blanco (Spanish)

Cool Facts

• The Surf Scoter breeds on freshwater lakes, where the male defends a moving area around the female. The female with a brood is not territorial.
• Accidental exchanges of young among Surf Scoter broods are frequent on crowded lakes. Because the mother provides no parental care other than guarding the chicks, evolutionary selection to prevent such mixups may not be very strong.

• Nonbreeding Surf Scoters (mainly immatures) do not necessarily go to the breeding grounds in summer. Instead they spend the summer primarily along marine coasts southward to Baja California and New Jersey, where they frequent bays and estuaries.

Sources used to construct this page:

1. Bellrose, F. C. 1976. Ducks, Geese, and Swans of North America. Stackpole Books, Harrisburg, PA.
2. Savard, J.-P. L., D. Bordage, and A. Reed. 1998. Surf Scoter (Melanitta perspicillata). In The Birds of North America, No. 363 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.