#0952 · 🐦 birds

Surf Scoter

🇳🇱 Brilzee-eend ·Melanitta perspicillata

LCleast concern 🐦 Birds 📍 in the Netherlands

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

what is it?

The surf scoter ( Melanitta perspicillata ) is a large sea duck native to North America. Adult males are 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 winters along the Pacific and Atlantic coasts of North America. Those diving ducks mainly feed on benthic invertebrates, mussels representing an important part of their diet.

base stats

NL sightings 2iNaturalist, research grade
worldwide 31,439iNaturalist observations
weight 1 kgadult, up to
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).