What does a surf scoter look like?
Adult males are jet black with orange, white, and black bill and white patches at the nape, forecrown, and base of the bill. Females are dark brown with dark gray bills and usually show two patches of white on the face. Surf Scoters rest on the water’s surface and dive for their prey.
Is a scoter a duck?
scoter, also called Sea Coot, (genus Melanitta), any of three species of sea duck of the family Anatidae. Within the divisions of true duck species, the scoter belongs in the diving duck group. Scoters are good swimmers and divers and are mainly marine except during the breeding season.
How deep can a surf scoter dive?
360 in
How deep can a surf scoter dive? When the bird is feeding, they spring forward and dive with their wings half-open. They only dive in waters that have a maximum depth of 360 in (914.4 cm). They are usually seen diving through wave crests when they forage in the areas of breaking waves.
Where is the surf scoter found?
The surf scoter lives in both freshwater and marine habitats. In the summer, it lives and breeds on small bodies of fresh water in boreal forests or tundra landscapes. In the winter, the surf scoter lives in shallow ocean bays, estuaries and mouths of rivers along the west and east coast.
What does a surf scoter eat?
mollusks
Mostly mollusks. In addition to mollusks, also feeds on crustaceans, aquatic insects, small fishes, echinoderms, marine worms. Also eats some plant material, mainly pondweeds and sedges. Young eat mostly aquatic insects at first, also mollusks and some plant material, including sedges, pondweeds, and crowberries.
Can you hunt surf scoter?
While sea duck hunting you might see Surf Scoter. The drake is mostly black except for white patches on the back of the head/neck and the forehead. These beautiful sea ducks winter along the Pacific and Atlantic coasts feeding in the surf. …
Do surf scoters dive?
This duck is common in winter on both coasts; on Pacific Coast, often seen around fishing piers and harbors. The male’s strong head pattern earns the species the hunters’ nickname of ‘skunk-head coot. ‘ When feeding, they usually spring forward and dive with the wings partly opened. Silent at most times of year.
How do you pronounce duck scoter?
Not scot-er, not scooter, but scoat-er, is how you pronounce the duck name scoter. The first syllable rhymes with coat.
What do scoter ducks eat?
Mostly mollusks. In addition to mollusks, also feeds on crustaceans, aquatic insects, small fishes, echinoderms, marine worms. Also eats some plant material, mainly pondweeds and sedges. Young eat mostly aquatic insects at first, also mollusks and some plant material, including sedges, pondweeds, and crowberries.
Can you hunt Surf Scoter?
Do scoters migrate?
Migration Status Black Scoters migrate north from March through May and south from late September through November. The fall migration is preceded by a molt migration where birds molt in large groups at northern coastal sites before heading south in fresh plumage.
Do scoters dive?
This duck is common in winter on both coasts; on Pacific Coast, often seen around fishing piers and harbors. The male’s strong head pattern earns the species the hunters’ nickname of ‘skunk-head coot. ‘ When feeding, they usually spring forward and dive with the wings partly opened.
What kind of Bill does a surf scoter have?
Color Pattern. Adult males are jet black with orange, white, and black bill and white patches at the nape, forecrown, and base of the bill. Females are dark brown with dark gray bills and usually show two patches of white on the face.
What kind of plumage does a surf scoter have?
The female surf scoter is fairly uniformly colored dark to black-brown with occasional whitish feathers. There are two whitish patches on the cheeks below the eyes. The bill is greenish-black or bluish-black. The legs and feet are dull orange and the iris is pale or brown. Female plumages of all scoter species are similar.
What kind of food does a surf scoter eat?
Food Habits. The surf scoter feeds mainly on mollusks; crustaceans; aquatic insects; small fish and on green plant matter such as pondweeds, wild celery, muskgrass and the seeds of sedges and bulrushes.
Where do surf scoters live in the wild?
Habitat. Surf Scoters nest in the far north where boreal forest gives way to tundra. They are most easily found in migration and winter, when they occur along ocean coasts, bays, and estuaries. Migrants can occur on lakes and reservoirs inland, especially as they wait out bad weather.