Texas Waterfowl

White-winged Scoter

107 blue sheen. Their bill is multicolored and large; the front portion is edged in yellow and rapidly grades to orange and then red as it approaches the nostrils. The top onethird of their bill is black. The sides of the bill are pale blue to white, and there is a round black dot near the base. Males weigh about 2.3 pounds. Females are slightly smaller. SOURCES Johnsgard 1975; Bellrose 1980; Vermeer 1981; Savard et al. 1998; Seyffert 2001; Sullivan et al. 2002; White 2002; Lockwood and Freeman 2004; NAWMP 2004; Eubanks et al. 2006; Anderson et al. 2008. WHITE-WINGED SCOTER Melanitta fusca White-winged Scoters are rare to very rare in Texas. They potentially occur on wetlands throughout the state, but like Surf Scoters, they are most common on the upper and central portions of the Coastal Prairies. Most White-winged Scoters observed in Texas are first-winter birds. They primarily occur between early November and mid-March. Surf Scoter (female). Photograph by Greg Lasley, December 9, 2009, Austin, Travis County, Texas. 108 White-winged Scoters breed across northern Europe and Asia and in the boreal forests of Alaska and northwestern Canada. Scattered breeding also takes place in the Canadian Parklands. There are roughly 600,000 White-winged Scoters in North America. Their population trend is likely declining. White-winged Scoters form seasonal pair bonds. Breeding pairs use large lakes, particularly those with islands. They nest on the ground, often among lowgrowing shrubs. They winter in estuaries, bays, and nearshore areas of the Pacific coast from Alaska (including the Aleutian Islands) south to Baja California and along the Atlantic coast from southeastern Canada to Florida. Wintering concentrations off the coast of British Columbia can exceed 10,000 birds. A few winter in the Great Lakes, in the Gulf of California, and along the Gulf of Mexico’s northern coast. Outside of the breeding season, they forage on oysters, scallops, blue mussels, and other marine bivalves. White-winged Scoter (female-type). Photograph by Greg Lasley, November 17, 2005, Austin, Travis County, Texas. sea ducks 107 blue sheen. Their bill is multicolored and large; the front portion is edged in yellow and rapidly grades to orange and then red as it approaches the nostrils. The top onethird of their bill is black. The sides of the bill are pale blue to white, and there is a round black dot near the base. Males weigh about 2.3 pounds. Females are slightly smaller. SOURCES Johnsgard 1975; Bellrose 1980; Vermeer 1981; Savard et al. 1998; Seyffert 2001; Sullivan et al. 2002; White 2002; Lockwood and Freeman 2004; NAWMP 2004; Eubanks et al. 2006; Anderson et al. 2008. WHITE-WINGED SCOTER Melanitta fusca White-winged Scoters are rare to very rare in Texas. They potentially occur on wetlands throughout the state, but like Surf Scoters, they are most common on the upper and central portions of the Coastal Prairies. Most White-winged Scoters observed in Texas are first-winter birds. They primarily occur between early November and mid-March. Surf Scoter (female). Photograph by Greg Lasley, December 9, 2009, Austin, Travis County, Texas. 109 Females of all ages are brown, although adult females are darker brown. Females have faint white plumage near the base of their bill and on their cheeks, and the bill of females is grayish black. First-winter males are blackish. Adult males are also black but have a tear-shaped white area around their eye. Their bill is yellowish orange toward the front and sides and has a large black hump near the base. Some authorities consider White-winged Scoters and Velvet Scoters, which are found in Europe, to be the same species. Males and females weigh about 3.8 and 3.2 pounds, respectively. SOURCES Cottam 1939; Bellrose 1980; Brown and Brown 1981; Vermeer and Bourne 1984; Gooders and Boyer 1986; Brown and Fredrickson 1997; Lockwood and Freeman 2004; NAWMP 2004; Eubanks et al. 2006; Žydelis et al. 2006; Badzinski et al. 2008; Safine and Lindberg 2008. BLACK SCOTER Melanitta americana Black Scoters are encountered less frequently in Texas than are the other scoters, making them very rare. They are most common between early November and mid-March. They primarily occur in saltwater, particularly the nearshore waters of the upper and central coasts. They are seldom encountered inland. Most Black Scoters observed in Texas are first-winter birds. Black Scoters breed in eastern Siberia, in...