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Surf Scoter

Melanitta perspicillata
Anatidae
How it got its name!
Male has ornate beak
Female dull by comparison
Gathers in large numbers when not breeding
Large webbed feet set far back on body ...
... assist in take-off and ...
... diving for crabs, ...
... Fat Innkeeper's Worm, and other invertebrates
Gland above eye removes excess salt from winter diet
Wintering scoter harnessed with transmitter ...
... and tracked by satellite to ....
... breeding grounds 2,000 miles away
Lakeshore nest of first scoter successfully tracked
Second scoter tracked to boreal forest ...
... up a rocky ridge, hundreds of yards from water ...
... female found in rocky crevice sitting on...
... down-lined nest with 7 eggs; 6-9 eggs usual
Young male developing white patch on nape
Adults undergo a complete molt before ...
... wintering with hundreds ...
... if not thousands of scoters in coastal waters ...
... having a grand old time!

Based on records for Salter Grove from 2002 through 2024, the Surf Scoter has only been observed once in mid-October 2016 when a raft of seven individuals was seen in the Providence River east of the breakwater.  It is, however, a regular winter visitor to shoreline vantage points in Newport and Washington counties in Rhode Island, commonly occurring in rafts with other sea duck species. 

The Surf Scoter breeds on the edge of shallow freshwater lakes in remote northern Canada and Alaska where boreal forests becomes patchy and give way to tundra.  After breeding, Surf Scoters seek out habitats where predation is low and food is plentiful to undergo a complete molt of body and wing feathers before flying to winter along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the United States. 

They feed on freshwater invertebrates, insects and some plant matter while in the Arctic, but in winter switch to marine invertebrates like mussels, clams, small crabs, snails and worms.  Special glands located above the eyes remove the high salt content of the Surf Scoter's winter diet.  These glands shrink in summer when the scoters are breeding on fresh water inland lakes.

An annotated list of Rhode Island birds from 1899 reported that the Surf Scoter was a common winter resident along the coast and in Narragansett Bay.  This largish and relatively long-lived sea duck still appears to be common, but environmental changes in both their remote Arctic breeding grounds and wintering habitats suggest to researchers that a population decline is in the offing.

A warming climate is certain to disrupt the emergence of Arctic prey critical to its breeding success.  Oil spills and pollutants on both coasts likely impact the health of birds beyond the winter months as toxic substances such as mercury accumulate in their body tissues.  Surf Scoters wintering in San Francisco Bay have been found to have elevated levels of mercury but it is not known how breeding success might be affected.

A 2005 study by the United States Geological Service placed satellite and radio transmitters on Surf Scoters wintering in San Francisco Bay to track them to their breeding grounds.  Against all odds, a female was successfully tracked to its lakeshore nest 2,000 miles away in northern Canada.

Using the same technology, researchers located another nesting scoter the following year.  But this time the nest was several hundred yards from the nearest lake and up the side of a rocky ridge.  Besides investigating how wintering ground pollutants impact reproductive success in Surf Scoters, these studies have added details of breeding ecology for this sea duck.