ML132921801
Contributor
Date
Location
- Age
- Not specified
- Sex
- Not specified
Observation details
The highlight of our visit today was a female scoter on the most southeastern pond of the new wetlands project. This bird was a little larger than nearby Ruddy Ducks, but it was not too different in shape. The bill tapered from a heavy base to a blunt tip along a relatively straight culmen, which gave the bill a somewhat shoe-like appearance. I also noted that the bill was about as long as the head was wide. The forehead almost seemed to represent a continuation of the culmen, and the crown had a somewhat flattened appearance back to the nape. The head was proportionately large and the neck was short and stocky. The body was also quite stocky, yet the tail was short, slim, and held cocked upward. The forehead and crown were blackish, with the lower edge sharply demarcated from two somewhat diffuse, whitish spots on the face, one in the lores just below the eye and the other somewhat slimmer and more diffuse along its lower edge just behind the eye. A narrow band that extended down from the eye separated the two spots. Both this band and the lower part of the face were medium brown. The upper edges of the facial spots were sharply demarcated from the blackish cap, but the lower edges blended into the brown of the face. I think the breast was darker than the neck, but I am more certain that the back was quite a dark, sooty-brown in color, and that the flanks were not all that much lighter. The tail appeared to be entirely dark. We once saw this bird flap its wings, but I was able to note at this time little more than a lack of white patches on wings that were generally dark brown. The bill was blackish, but possibly with the sides at the base being a little paler and more grayish. I noted the eyes only as being dark, and I never saw the legs or feet. Given the strongly capped appearance, I suspect this was an adult female, but I never did see the belly clearly.
Technical information
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