Black Scoter (Melanitta americana), Glendale Recharge Ponds, Maricopa County

This Black Scoter was discovered by Brian Walsh and photographed by Jeff Ritz on 14 November 2010 and Jim Burns on 15 November 2010.

The rarest of the three scoter species in Arizona with fewer than 10 accepted records for the state.  Most records are of female plumaged birds.

The most recent AOU checklist split Black Scoter (Melanitta nigra) into two species.  The species in North America and eastern Siberia is now called Black Scoter (Melanitta americana) and the species of Europe and the rest of Asia is called Common Scoter (Melanitta nigra).  There are no records of Common Scoter in North America.  The large, completely orange-yellow knob on the bill of this otherwise all black duck makes this unmistakably a male Black Scoter.  Male Common Scoters have much less yellow on the bill. 

14 November 2010, photo by Jeff Ritz

15 November 2010, photo by Jim Burns

 

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