Wildlife Watching Wednesday: The Surf Scoter, Sea Duck of the North

By: Tom Berg

Of all the duck species in North America, the Surf Scoter is one of the most unusual-looking.  It is a medium-sized sea duck, and the males are completely black except for small white patches on the back of their head, on their forehead, and at the base of their bill.  They also have a bright white eye.  Their most unusual feature, however, is their large, colorful bill.  It is a combination of white, orange, pink and black.

Like most sea ducks, the surf scoter spends much of its time along the sea coasts – both on the Atlantic side and the Pacific Ocean side of the USA.  Their name of “surf” scoter is quite appropriate, since they prefer to feed in the relatively shallow surf of northern coastlines.  But don’t assume they stay in shallow water exclusively.  Although they often feed in the shallow surf zone, these ducks are fully capable of diving down to depths of 75 feet or more.

Since surf scoters are expert divers, they routinely dive down to the bottom in search of shellfish like clams, mussels, snails and small crabs.  They can even use their large bills to pry clams off of underwater rocks while diving.  They swallow the clams, crabs and other shellfish whole, and rely on their strong gizzards to crush the shells and digest the shellfish.

Male surf scoters are sometimes called “skunkhead” or “old skunkhead” since they are mostly black with a flash of white.  American coots are also mostly black, so surf scoters are sometimes called “skunk-headed coots”, too.  Weird names!  Although the males are black in color, female surf scoters are mostly brown.

During the breeding season, surf scoters in the far northern regions of Alaska and Canada move inland from the coasts and find small freshwater lakes and marshes for nesting sites.  Their nests are usually located on the edge of the open tundra, a short distance from the shallow lakes where they can raise their chicks.  Here they eat mostly freshwater invertebrates like insects, snails, worms and others.

During their annual migration, surf scoters can sometimes be seen on the Great Lakes as they are heading north.  The male pictured here was photographed on southern Lake Michigan in early February.

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