Common Scoter

Melanitta nigra

The common scoter is a large sea duck, 43–54 cm (17–21 in) in length, which breeds over the far north of Europe and the Palearctic east to the Olenyok River. The black scoter of North America and eastern Siberia was formerly considered to be a subspecies. Source

Where it is now

In the last 8 weeks this bird was recorded 27,562 times across 41 areas (each area is a 5 degree square).

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Movement and weather

Each season it is first heard regularly where daytime highs are around 18°C (typically 8 to 25°C, from 11 areas). That range is wide, so temperature alone does not explain when it turns up.

Over the weeks it was present in the past year, its centre in Europe ranged from 55°N in October to 72°N in May, about 1,800 km apart.

Arrival dates

The week it was first heard regularly in each region, after at least six weeks away. Dates differ from south to north, so a region has a range.

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Figures are effort corrected and come from automatic sound identification, which makes mistakes. How this is measured and how it compares with human observers.