The scoters are stocky seaducks in the genus Melanitta. The drakes are mostly black and have swollen bills, the females are brown. They breed in the far north of Europe, Asia, and North America, and winter further south in temperate 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 for crustaceans and molluscs.
| Scoters | |
|---|---|
| |
| Adult male white-winged scoter (Melanitta deglandi) | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| 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 | |
|
See text | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Oidemia | |
Taxonomy
editThe genus Melanitta was introduced by the German zoologist Friedrich Boie in 1822.[1] The type species was designated in 1838 as the velvet scoter by Thomas Campbell Eyton.[2] The genus name combines the Ancient Greek melas meaning "black" and netta meaning "duck".[3]
The genus contains six species:[4]
| Common name | Scientific name and subspecies | Range | Size and ecology | IUCN status and estimated population |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| black or American scoter
|
Melanitta americana (Swainson, 1832) |
north of North America in Labrador and Newfoundland to the southeast Hudson Bay
|
Size: Habitat: Diet: |
LC
|
| common scoter
|
Melanitta nigra (Linnaeus, 1758) |
north of Europe and Asia east to the Olenyok River
|
Size: Habitat: Diet: |
LC
|
| velvet scoter
|
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
|
Melanitta deglandi (Bonaparte, 1850) |
North America
|
Size: Habitat: Diet: |
LC
|
| Stejneger's scoter
|
Melanitta stejnegeri (Ridgway, 1887) |
far north of Asia east of the Yenisey Basin | Size: Habitat: Diet: |
LC
|
| surf scoter
|
Melanitta perspicillata (Linnaeus, 1758) |
North America, mostly in Northern Canada and Alaska
|
Size: Habitat: Diet: |
LC
|
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A fossil species, Melanitta kirbori, is known from the Early Pleistocene of Crimea.[5] The presumed fossil "scoter" Melanitta ceruttii, which lived in California during the Late Pliocene, is now placed in the genus Histrionicus.
References
edit
- ^ Boie, Friedrich (1822). Tagebuch gehalten auf einer Reise durch Norwegen im Jahre 1817 (in German). Schleswig: Königl Taubstummen - Institut. pp. 308, 351.
- ^ Eyton, Thomas Campbell (1838). A Monograph on the Anatidae, or Duck Tribe. London: Longman, Orme, Brown, Green, & Longman. p. 52.
- ^ Jobling, James A (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 246. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
- ^ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (July 2021). "Screamers, ducks, geese & swans". IOC World Bird List Version 11.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 16 October 2021.
- ^ Zelenkov, N. V. (2024-10-01). "The Oldest Finds of the Genera Melanitta, Marmaronetta, and Other Ducks (Aves: Anatidae) from the Lower Pleistocene of the Crimea". Paleontological Journal. 58 (5): 593–603. doi:10.1134/S0031030124600653. ISSN 1555-6174.