Appearance:

Medium sized diving duck. Male all black except orange spot on bill. Female dark brown with contrasting light grey cheeks. Differs from Velvet Scoter in all plumages by lack of white wing-bars, and longer tail. Birds resting on the surface characteristically bow their head when occasionally flapping the wings. Wings held tight against body when diving. Last two characters usable for identification at very long range. Also tend to stay closer together in groups than Velvet Scoter.

Sound:

More vocal than other Scoters. Short, whistling sounds, sometimes reminiscent of a male teal, but a little bit deeper in pitch.

Display-call male:

Distribution:

Xeno-canto: map

Ecology:

Birdlife ecology

Links:

Observation.org Latest observations

Video IBC

Image search Flickr NB! May give other species

Sound search at Xeno-canto

Featherbase

CC

Sounds:Recorded by Jarek Matusiak,http://www.xeno-canto.org ,CC license

Appearance:

Medium sized dabbling duck. Male with grey plumage, mottled breast, black rump and vent lacking white framing. Female brown and easily overlooked and confused with female Mallards. Bill with dark center and evenly broad orange sides. Plumage more greyish than female mallard, with a more slender body and steeper forehead. Diagnostic white wingbars and contrasting white belly in all plumages.

Sound:

Males display-call a short dry rattling or croaking sound and some high whistling notes. Female quacking similar to Mallard, but drier and shriller.

Display-call:

Distribution:

Wikipedia: map (se also Xeno-canto below)

Ecology:

Birdlife ecology

Links:

Observation.org Latest observations

Video IBC

Image search Flickr NB! May give other species

Sound search at Xeno-canto

Featherbase

CC

CC-photo:Smudge 9000, Licence,Link.

CC-photo:Ján Svetlík, Licence,Link.

CC-sound:Patrik Åberg, Licence,Link.