Scoter

Scoters
Adult male white-winged scoter (Melanitta deglandi)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Aves
Order:Anseriformes
Family:Anatidae
Subfamily:Merginae
Genus:Melanitta
F. Boie, 1822[1]
Species

See text

Synonyms

Oidemia

The scoters are stocky seaducks in the genus Melanitta. The drakes are mostly black and have swollen bills. Females are brown. The genus name is derived from Ancient Greek melas "black" and netta "duck".[2]

They breed in the far north of Europe, Asia, and North America, and winter farther south in temperate zones of those continents. They form large flocks on suitable coastal waters. These are tightly packed, and the birds tend to take off together.

Their lined nests are built on the ground close to the sea, lakes or rivers, in woodland or tundra. These species dive for crustaceans and molluscs.

Species

There are five species,[1] grouped into two subgenera:

ImageSubgenusScientific nameCommon NameDistribution
OidemiaMelanitta americanablack or American scoternorth of North America in Labrador and Newfoundland to the southeast Hudson Bay
OidemiaMelanitta nigracommon scoternorth of Europe and Asia east to the Olenyok River
MelanittaMelanitta fuscavelvet scotereastern Turkey, Europe as far south as Great Britain, and on the Black and Caspian Sea.
MelanittaMelanitta deglandiwhite-winged scoterfar north of Asia east of the Yenisey Basin, and North America.
MelanittaMelanitta perspicillatasurf scoterNorth America, mostly in Northern Canada and Alaska

The presumed fossil "scoter" Melanitta ceruttii, which lived in California during the Late Pliocene, is now placed in the genus Histrionicus.

References

  1. 1 2 Waterfowl, IOC Bird List
  2. ↑ Jobling, James A (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 246. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.


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