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Surf Scoter

Status Common transient, fairly common in winter, rare in summer. The southward flight may begin in August but larger numbers are seen in late September and October. Estimates of 50-100 birds or more have been made on Christmas Bird Counts on the Eastern Shore. The spring flight appears to peak during May, but summer occurrences, generally of immature-plumaged birds, are regularly reported. In winter, it is rarely found on fresh water, usually near the coast.

Description Length: 45-50 cm. All plumages: No white on wing. Adult male: An all black scoter with greatly enlarged and highly coloured bill; two sharply defined white patches, one on the forehead and the other on the nape. Adult female and immature: Whitish gray patches at base of bill and behind eye; upperparts dark brown; underparts lighter brown; belly grayish white, more or less mottled with brown.

Range Breeds from Alaska and central British Columbia to the Ungava Peninsula. Winters on the Atlantic coast from Newfoundland to Florida, and on the Pacific coast from the Aleutian Islands to Baja California.

Remarks The bird's name is derived from its habit of diving through breaking surf when feeding near the shore in rough weather. This is obviously done to avoid being thrown about by the tumbling waters which follow the wave crests when they break. About 90 percent of its food consists of various forms of marine animal life, and it has a low rating as a table bird.

The three scoters are commonly but erroneously called "coots," and because of the black and white head of the drake, the Surf Scoter is commonly called the "skunk-head coot."