Black, Surf, and White-winged Scoters

Description

Scoters are vocal birds, known for their persistent whistle-like call. Their Alutiiq name from Kodiak, Kukumyaa’aq, translates as something that whistles. Scoters are the most numerous and conspicuous sea ducks in the Chugach Region throughout the year. Scoters are the most abundant and Black Scoters are the least (Isleib and Kessel 1973). The males of the three scoters present in the Chugach Region are easily distinguished. Surf Scoter males are the most unique, with a large, multi-colored bill, orange and red down the front, white on the sides, and a black spot in the middle, with a bright orange bump (called a basal knob) on the top. Their bodies are black, with a white patch on the back (nape) of the neck and front of the forehead. Males of the White-winged Scoter are like Black Scoters in that their bodies are all black, except with a small white patch by the eye and a white patch along the wing (visible in flight). Female scoters have similarly colored brown-black bodies but differ in their whitish facial and neck patterns. Female Black Scoters have a pale beige patch along the cheek and upper neck, with the lower margin of the neck patch extending down the neck and generally delineating the neck from the body. Females of the White-winged and Surf Scoters have two white patches on their heads, but the latter’s cheek patch extends around to the back of the neck like the male’s. Also, true to its name, both sexes of the White-winged Scoter have a white patch of their wings that is visible even when their wings are folded.

Habitat and Status

All three scoters breed and winter in the Chugach Region, nesting near lakes and wetlands in upland forests. There are large numbers of migrants along the outer coasts in April and May. Many non-breeders remain in the region during the summer, and many move into certain bays and fjords for molting. Fall migrants are numerous along the outer coasts from Septemberthrough November, and wintering visitors are abundant in the inshore waters about islands and in the bays and fiords, especially in waters of less than 300 feet deep.

Not much is known about how these scoters intermingle and move around at sea during the non-breeding season. Recent satellite telemetry of a few Surf Scoters show they depart Prince William Sound between mid-May and mid-June. Non-breeding males molted along the Kuskokwim shoals, and later wintered in bays off the Alaska Peninsula, Baranof Island in Sitka Sound, and Montague Island in Prince William Sound. Birds that bred in interior Alaska and northern Canada, subsequently molted in Prince William Sound, Norton Sound and Kotzebue Sound, and wintered in Prince William Sound and the Strait of Georgia in British Columbia (Rosenberg et al. 2019).

All three scoter species are currently abundant. However, their wintering populations are vulnerable to the collapse of their prey populations from oil spills, changing ocean currents, ocean acidification, and marine heat waves. Audubon models further suggest that Surf Scoter breeding habitat may decline by as much as 62% as boreal forests are impacted by a warming climate.

Black Scoters are the least common of the 3 species in the Chugach Region, primarily migrating through in the fall, although they may be locally abundant on the outer coast during winter.

Surf Scoters are widely distributed in the Chugach Region year-round and are the most of abundant of the three scoters.

White-winged Scoters are widely distributed in the Chugach Region year-round.

Traditional Use

Scoters often occur in large flocks in shallow waters near shore. This makes them one of the most popular ducks to harvest. On Kodiak, Alutiiq hunters pursue scoters with shotguns on the water and in the air. Scoters are a favorite ingredient in duck soup, a dish made by simmering duck meat in a pot of water flavored with garlic and onions. People cook the soup for hours to tenderize the meat, and then add rice, potatoes, and noodles. As a finishing touch, some cooks thicken the soup with a roux of flour and water. People typically prefer fresh duck meat to frozen, and many cooks add the blood of a freshly harvested duck to their soup for flavor (Alutiiq Museum).