Scoter
{{Short description|Genus of ducks}}
{{For|ships named Scoter|USS Scoter|USFS Scoter}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| name = Scoters
| image = wwscoter12.JPG
| image_caption = Adult male white-winged scoter (Melanitta deglandi)
| taxon = Melanitta
| authority = F. Boie, 1822
| type_species = Anas fusca (velvet scoter)
| type_species_authority = Linnaeus, 1758
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision = See text
| synonyms = Oidemia
}}
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.
Taxonomy
The genus Melanitta was introduced by the German zoologist Friedrich Boie in 1822.{{ cite book | last=Boie | first=Friedrich | author-link=Friedrich Boie | year=1822 | title=Tagebuch gehalten auf einer Reise durch Norwegen im Jahre 1817 | language=German | location=Schleswig | publisher=Königl Taubstummen - Institut | pages=[https://archive.org/details/tagebuchgehalten00boie/page/308/mode/1up 308], [https://archive.org/details/tagebuchgehalten00boie/page/351/mode/1up 351]}} The type species was designated in 1838 as the velvet scoter by Thomas Campbell Eyton.{{ cite book | last=Eyton | first=Thomas Campbell | author-link=Thomas Campbell Eyton | date=1838 | title=A Monograph on the Anatidae, or Duck Tribe | location=London | publisher=Longman, Orme, Brown, Green, & Longman | page=52 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/36002170 }} The genus name combines the Ancient Greek melas meaning "black" and netta meaning "duck".{{cite book | last= Jobling | first= James A | year= 2010| title= The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | url= https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling | publisher = Christopher Helm | location = London | isbn = 978-1-4081-2501-4 |page =[https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling/page/n246 246]}}
The genus contains six species:{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela Rasmussen | date=July 2021 | title=Screamers, ducks, geese & swans | work=IOC World Bird List Version 11.2 | url=http://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/waterfowl/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=16 October 2021 }}
{{Species table |genus= Melanitta |authority-name=F. Boie |authority-year=1822 |species-count=six|no-note=y|narrow-percent=75}}
{{Species table/row
|name= black or American scoter |binomial=Melanitta americana
|image=File:Melanitta americana Barnegat NJ.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=|image-caption=Male
|image2 =File:055 - BLACK SCOTER (12-17-13) tucson, az -01 (11429497856).jpg|image2-caption=Female
|authority-name=Swainson |authority-year=1832 |authority-not-original=yes
|range= north of North America in Labrador and Newfoundland to the southeast Hudson Bay
|range-image=File:Melanitta americana map.svg
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= LC
|population=
|direction=
|subspecies=
}}
{{Species table/row
|name= common scoter |binomial=Melanitta nigra
|image=File:Eurasian common scoter.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=|image-caption=Male
|image2 =File:Sjöorre - Common Scoter 2.jpg|image2-caption=Female
|authority-name=Linnaeus |authority-year=1758 |authority-not-original=yes
|range= north of Europe and Asia east to the Olenyok River
|range-image=File:MelanittaNigraIUCNver2019-2.png
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= LC
|population=
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}}
{{Species table/row
|name=velvet scoter |binomial=Melanitta fusca
|image=File:Velvet Scoter, Eyebrook Reservoir, Leics (cropped).jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=|image-caption=Male
|image2 =File:Velvet Scoter, female, Musselburgh.jpg|image2-caption=Female
|authority-name=Linnaeus |authority-year=1758 |authority-not-original=yes
|range= eastern Turkey, Europe as far south as Great Britain, and on the Black and Caspian Sea
|range-image=File:MelanittaFuscaIUCNver2018 2.png
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= VU
|population=
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}}
{{Species table/row
|name=white-winged scoter |binomial=Melanitta deglandi
|image=File:Melanitta deglandi -Iceland -swimming-8 (3).jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=|image-caption=Male
|image2 =File:Melanitta fusca var deglandi f Toronto.jpg|image2-caption=Female
|authority-name=Bonaparte|authority-year= 1850 |authority-not-original=yes
|range=North America
|range-image=File:Melanitta deglandi map.svg
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= LC
|population=
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}}
{{Species table/row
|name=Stejneger's scoter |binomial=Melanitta stejnegeri
|image=File:Melanitta stejnegeri 223375338 (cropped) 3.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=|image-caption=Male
|authority-name=Ridgway |authority-year=1887 |authority-not-original=yes
|range=far north of Asia east of the Yenisey Basin
|range-image=
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
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|iucn-status= LC
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{{Species table/row
|name= surf scoter |binomial=Melanitta perspicillata
|image=File:Melanitta perspicillata.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=|image-caption=Male
|image2 =File:Surf Scoter (female) (11635678413).jpg|image2-caption=Female
|authority-name=Linnaeus |authority-year=1758 |authority-not-original=yes
|range= North America, mostly in Northern Canada and Alaska
|range-image=File:Melanitta perspicillata range map.png
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= LC
|population=
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}}
{{Species table/end}}
A fossil species, Melanitta kirbori, is known from the Early Pleistocene of Crimea.{{Cite journal |last=Zelenkov |first=N. V. |date=2024-10-01 |title=The Oldest Finds of the Genera Melanitta, Marmaronetta, and Other Ducks (Aves: Anatidae) from the Lower Pleistocene of the Crimea |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1134/S0031030124600653 |journal=Paleontological Journal |language=en |volume=58 |issue=5 |pages=593–603 |doi=10.1134/S0031030124600653 |issn=1555-6174|url-access=subscription }} The presumed fossil "scoter" Melanitta ceruttii, which lived in California during the Late Pliocene, is now placed in the genus Histrionicus.{{cite journal|last1=Chandler|first1=Robert M.|title=Part II: Fossil Birds of the San Diego Formation, Late Pliocene, Blancan, San Diego County, California|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40166674 |journal=Ornithological Monographs|date=1990|volume=44|issue=44|pages=73, 77–161|doi=10.2307/40166674|url-access=subscription}}
References
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