Surf Scoter (Melanitta perspicillata)
About the Surf Scoter
The surf scoter (Melanitta perspicillata) is a large sea duck native to North America. Adult males are almost entirely black with characteristic white patches on the forehead and the nape and adult females are slightly smaller and browner. Surf scoters breed in Northern Canada and Alaska and winter along the Pacific and Atlantic coasts of North America. They are diving ducks and mainly feed on benthic invertebrates, mussels representing an important part of their diet.
No audio on this page yet
We only publish recordings we may use commercially, because this site is supported by ads. xeno-canto lists 40 recordings for this species: 23 CC BY-NC-SA. None of them permits commercial use, so there is no player here — the page is kept as a profile so the bird is not missing from the guide.
As soon as someone uploads a freely licensed recording, we mirror it and the player appears here.
Listed as recorded in Canada, Netherlands, United States in the xeno-canto catalogue.
Related species you can hear
- Common ScoterMelanitta nigrarecording
This species has no recording here yet — these relatives do, so you can hear what the family sounds like.