#0806 · 🐦 birds
Velvet Scoter
🇳🇱 Grote Zee-eend ·Melanitta fusca
10 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences
- 1. © Maksymilian Wojtkiewicz · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 2. © egorbirder · CC BY 4.0
- 3. © Инна · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 4. © Анна Голубева · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
- 5. © Pentti Ketola · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 6. © jamesbot · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 7. © Andrey Vlasenko · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 8. © egorbirder · CC BY 4.0
- 9. © alexander_semenov · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 10. © Igor Kim · CC BY-NC 4.0
what is it?
The genus name is derived from Ancient Greek melas "black" and netta "duck". The species name is from the Latin fuscus "dusky brown".
base stats
Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).
fun facts
- Spotted 22 times in the Netherlands on iNaturalist.
- 2,886 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
- Weighs up to about 1.8 kg.
- Scientifically named in 1758 (268 years ago).
- Listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.
fact sheet
- English
- Velvet Scoter
- Nederlands
- Grote Zee-eend
- scientific name
- Melanitta fusca
- class
- Aves
- order
- Anseriformes
- family
- Anatidae
- IUCN Red List
- VU · vulnerable
- sightings in NL
- 22
- sightings in Europe
- 2,298
- sightings worldwide
- 2,886
- GBIF records in NL
- 19,350
- weight
- 1.8 kg
- length
- —
- lifespan
- —
- named
- 1758
IUCN in Dutch: kwetsbaar. Blank means the sources don't say.
relatives· Anatidae
#0532 📷 9Mallard
🇳🇱 Wilde Eend
Anas platyrhynchos
LC 👀 9k in NL
#0535 📷 9Greylag Goose
🇳🇱 Grauwe Gans
Anser anser
LC 👀 6.1k in NL
#0537 📷 10Egyptian Goose
🇳🇱 Nijlgans
Alopochen aegyptiaca
LC 👀 5.2k in NL
#0544 📷 9Mute Swan
🇳🇱 Knobbelzwaan
Cygnus olor
LC 👀 3.9k in NL
#0545 📷 8Tufted Duck
🇳🇱 Kuifeend
Aythya fuligula
LC 👀 3.6k in NL
#0555 📷 10Gadwall
🇳🇱 Krakeend
Mareca strepera
LC 👀 2.5k in NL
#0558 📷 10Canada Goose
🇳🇱 Grote Canadese gans
Branta canadensis
LC 👀 2.3k in NL
#0560 📷 10Common Shelduck
🇳🇱 Bergeend
Tadorna tadorna
LC 👀 2.2k in NL
Sources: iNaturalist taxon 850858, Wikidata Q201300, GBIF 2498238, Wikipedia (EN), Wikipedia (NL). Intro text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.