| Scoters | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Adult malewhite-winged scoter (Melanitta deglandi) | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Anseriformes |
| Family: | Anatidae |
| Subfamily: | Merginae |
| Genus: | Melanitta F. Boie, 1822 |
| Type species | |
| Anas fusca (velvet scoter) Linnaeus, 1758 | |
| Species | |
Seetext | |
| Synonyms | |
Oidemia | |
Thescoters are stockyseaducks in thegenusMelanitta. The drakes are mostly black and have swollen bills, the females are brown. They breed in the far north ofEurope,Asia, andNorth America, andwinter further south intemperate 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 forcrustaceans andmolluscs.
The genusMelanitta was introduced by the German zoologistFriedrich Boie in 1822.[1] Thetype species was designated in 1838 as thevelvet scoter byThomas Campbell Eyton.[2] The genus name combines theAncient Greekmelas meaning "black" andnetta meaning "duck".[3]
The genus contains sixspecies:[4]
| Common name | Scientific name and subspecies | Range | Size and ecology | IUCN status and estimated population |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| black or American scoter
Male
| Melanitta americana (Swainson, 1832) | north of North America in Labrador and Newfoundland to the southeast Hudson Bay | Size: Habitat: Diet: | LC |
| common scoter
Male
| Melanitta nigra (Linnaeus, 1758) | north of Europe and Asia east to the Olenyok River | Size: Habitat: Diet: | LC |
| velvet scoter
Male
| Melanitta fusca (Linnaeus, 1758) | eastern Turkey, Europe as far south as Great Britain, and on the Black and Caspian Sea | Size: Habitat: Diet: | VU |
| white-winged scoter
Male
| Melanitta deglandi (Bonaparte, 1850) | North America | Size: Habitat: Diet: | LC |
| Stejneger's scoter
Male | Melanitta stejnegeri (Ridgway, 1887) | far north of Asia east of the Yenisey Basin | Size: Habitat: Diet: | LC |
| surf scoter
Male
| Melanitta perspicillata (Linnaeus, 1758) | North America, mostly in Northern Canada and Alaska | Size: Habitat: Diet: | LC |
Afossil species,Melanitta kirbori, is known from theEarly Pleistocene ofCrimea.[5] The presumed fossil "scoter"Melanitta ceruttii, which lived inCalifornia during the LatePliocene, is now placed in the genusHistrionicus.[6]
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