Black Scoter

Melanitta americana (Swainson, 1832)

Black Scoter, Melanitta americana, is a sea duck of the far north of North America and the Palearctic, breeding from the Yana River to Kamchatka in eastern Siberia, across Alaska to north-west Yukon, and from the eastern Northwest Territories and south-west Nunavut to Newfoundland in Canada. In winter it moves to coasts farther south, reaching central Japan in the west Pacific, the Aleutian Islands and the east Pacific coast as far as central California, and the Atlantic coast from Newfoundland to northern Florida. It is a bulky duck with a large bill, and the adult male is entirely black with a mostly yellow bill.

Order

Anseriformes

Family

Anatidae — Ducks, Geese, Swans

Breeding range

Palearctic, North America: Yana River to Kamchatka (e Siberia), Alaska e to nw Yukon; e Northwest Territories and sw Nunavut to Newfoundland (c to e Canada)

Nonbreeding range

to c Japan (w North Pacific coast); Aleutian Is., e North Pacific coast to c California; Newfoundland to n Florida (w North Atlantic coast)