#0714 · 🐦 birds

Common Scoter

🇳🇱 Zwarte Zee-eend ·Melanitta nigra

LCleast concern 🐦 Birds 📍 in the Netherlands

7 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences

1. © Mark · CC BY-NC 4.0
2. © Isidro Vila Verde · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
3. © Griha Hasanov · CC BY 4.0
4. © Анна Голубева · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
5. © stevebailey · CC BY-NC 4.0
6. © Vsevolod Rudyi · CC BY 4.0
7. © Ingeborg van Leeuwen · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

what is it?

The common scoter ( Melanitta nigra ) is a large sea duck, 43–54 cm (17–21 in) in length, which breeds over the far north of Europe and Asia east to the Olenyok River. The genus name is derived from Ancient Greek melas , "black", and netta , "duck". The species name is from Latin niger "shining black". The black scoter ( M. americana ) of North America and eastern Siberia is sometimes considered a subspecies of M. nigra .

base stats

NL sightings 134iNaturalist, research grade
worldwide 3,780iNaturalist observations
threat LCleast concern

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).