Field Guide
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Common Scoter
Melanitta nigra
Not yet photographed by the community
All-black diving duck of the sea; orange knob on bill.
Species Profile
Amber List (UK); Vulnerable (IUCN). Classified as Amber due to unfavourable breeding population trends across Europe.
- Lifespan
- 12–15 years in the wild
- Size & Weight
- 48–56 cm, wingspan 75–85 cm; 750–1,100 g
- Habitat
- Coastal waters and large inland lakes, preferring deeper marine and freshwater areas where they can dive for food.
- UK Distribution
- Winter visitor and passage migrant to UK coasts, arriving August–September and departing April–May. Small breeding population in northern Scotland (Outer Hebrides), with the vast majority wintering in northern European waters.
- Diet
- Benthic invertebrates, particularly molluscs (mussels, cockles), crustaceans, and aquatic insects obtained by diving to the seabed.
- Prey
- Mussels, cockles, small crustaceans, chironomid larvae, other benthic invertebrates
- Predators
- Great black-backed gulls, white-tailed eagles, otters, foxes (on eggs and young)
- Mating Season
- April to July
- Breeding
- Clutch size 6–9 eggs; incubation period 27–28 days; single brood. Nests on moorland near water; females are cryptically plumaged.
- Behaviour
- Highly gregarious, often seen in large flocks on wintering grounds. Males are striking jet-black with bright yellow-orange bill; females are brown. Excellent divers, reaching depths of up to 20 metres.
- •Male Common Scoters are entirely black except for a bright yellow-orange knob on the bill and small white patches on the head and neck.
- •They gather in large rafts of hundreds or even thousands during winter, particularly in shallow coastal waters and large estuaries.
- •The species name 'nigra' refers to the male's black plumage; females are much duller brown.
- •Common Scoters spend most of their lives at sea, coming to land only to breed in the far north.
- •They have suffered significant population declines in recent decades, particularly in their North Sea wintering grounds, attributed to marine pollution, overfishing of prey species, and climate change.
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