What are ducks with white wings?
Scoters are large, mostly black or dark gray sea ducks, and the White-winged Scoter is the largest of the three species. All plumages have a white wing-patch, which distinguishes the White-winged Scoter in flight from the other two scoters, which have solid black wings.
What does a White-winged Scoter look like?
Basic Description. Easily outsizing other scoter species in winter flocks on coastal waters, the White-winged Scoter is a large sea duck with a heavy, sloping bill and bold white patches in the wing. Males are velvety black with a dashing, upturned comma of white around the eye and an orange-tipped bill.
What kind of bird is a scoter?
sea duck
Medium-sized brownish sea duck with all dark wings.
What do white-winged scoters eat?
White-winged Scoters eat mollusks, crustaceans, fish, and insects; plant matter makes up a very small part of their diet. During the breeding season, in freshwater environments, they eat mostly crustaceans and insects, along with small amounts of aquatic plants such as pondweed or bulrush.
Why is the white winged duck endangered?
The white-winged duck (Asarcornis scutulata) is categorized on IUCN’s Red List as Endangered. The species’ global population is in decline due to habitat loss, disturbance along key stretches of riverine habitat and illegal poaching, and is estimated to be between 250 – 1,000 individuals.
Which national park is famous for white winged duck?
While the ghostly call has been spooking villagers who come to collect firewood in the forests for years, it has also been attracting birders from world over to visit the Nameri National Park of Assam. For the White Winged Wood Duck is no ordinary bird.
What kind of duck has a white body and black head?
Adult male Bufflehead have a white body, black back, and a dark head with a large white patch that wraps around the back of the head.
Is a surf scoter a duck?
The surf scoter (Melanitta perspicillata) is a large sea duck native to North America. Adult males are almost entirely black with characteristic white patches on the forehead and the nape and adult females are slightly smaller and browner.
Are ruddy ducks divers?
Ruddy Ducks dive to feed on aquatic invertebrates, especially midge larvae.
Where do white winged ducks live?
The White-winged Wood Duck Cairina (Asarcornis) scutulata (WWD) is found in Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, India, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Indonesia (Birdlife International 2001).
What is a white-winged scoter?
The white-winged scoter ( Melanitta deglandi) is a large sea duck. The genus name is derived from Ancient Greek melas “black” and netta “duck”. The species name commemorates French ornithologist Côme Damien Degland. The white-winged scoter is one of three North American scoter species and the largest species of scoter.
What is the oldest white-winged scoter ever recorded?
The oldest recorded White-winged Scoter was a female, and at least 18 years, 1 month old when she was observed at a nest in Saskatchewan, Canada.
How can you tell a female scoter from a male scoter?
Female of both species are very similar and best distinguished by head shape; White-winged Scoters tend to have “two-stepped” profile between the bill and the head, compared to the long “Roman nose” profile of Stejneger’s Scoter similar to that of a Common eider.
What is the difference between Stejneger’s scoter and velvet scoter?
Males of the white-winged scoter have browner flanks, dark yellow coloration of most of the bill and a less tall bill knob, approaching the velvet scoter. The male Stejneger’s scoter has a very tall knob at the base of its mostly orange-yellow bill.