Surf scoter

Language English

Onglets

Description

Distinguishing features

The surf scoter is about the same size as the black scoter, but its larger head and bill make it resemble a common eider.

The male has black plumage with a large white patch on the forehead and another on the nape. The orange, black and white bill is another distinguishing feature.

The female has a dark crown and a white patch, similar to that on the velvet scoter. The young have brown plumage with light-coloured spots on the sides of the head.

In summer and autumn, the nape patch darkens and eventually disappears before reappearing in mid-winter.

Reproduction

The surf scoter nests on the ground, sometimes far from water. The nest is well hidden in a natural cavity, under the low branches of a conifer or in shrubbery or very dense vegetation. The nest is lined with twigs, conifer needles, moss and the scoter’s own down.

The female lays 5 to 8 buff-white eggs. She incubates them on her own for 27 to 30 days. The young leave the nest with their mother fairly soon after hatching. Several females and their ducklings form “nurseries” of up to thirty individuals.

Scoters do not reach sexual maturity for two or sometimes three years.

Diet

The surf scoter eats various marine invertebrates, mainly crustaceans and mollusks (especially young mussels). It also eats herring eggs. In freshwater, it eats all kinds of insects, spiders, leeches, worms, amphipods and freshwater mussels (including zebra mussels). It sometimes eats the seeds of aquatic plants.

Predators

Few animals dare to attack the adults. The eggs and young, however, are often eaten by crows, foxes, otters and owls.

Habitat

The surf scoter is a North American duck. It reproduces near boreal forest and tundra lakes and rivers, in both Canada and Alaska.

During the incubation period, the males leave their partners and gather in enormous offshore (often in shallow bays) and estuaries rafts.

In winter, surf scoters can be seen along the Atlantic coast (from the Arctic to Florida) and the Pacific coast (from Alaska to California).

Ecology, behaviour

The different scoters have distinctive diving patterns. The surf scoter tends to spring forward with its wings partly outspread and keeps its neck extended while beating its wings. The black scoter swims with its wings held against its body and its head lowered. The velvet scoter partly opens its wings but does not spring forward.

French name

Macreuse à front blanc

Scientific name

Melanitta perspicillata

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Birds

Order

Anseriformes

Family

Anatidae (geese and ducks)

Size

48 to 58 cm

Weight

Female: About 900 g Male: About 1000 g

Life span

Average: 10 years in the wild.

Status

Least concern

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