WHITE-WINGED SCOTER 

 ( Melanltta fusca ) 



[DA: Flojlsand, DU: Grote Zee-eend , EN: Velvet Scoter, FI: Pilkkasiipi , FR: 

 Macreuse brune blanches, Macreuse a alles blanches; GE: Samtente, IC: Korpond, 

 IT: Oreo marino, JA: Birodo kinkuro, NW: Sjo-orre, PO: Uhla, RU: (Hump-nosed 

 Scoter), SP: Anade marino de alas blancas , Negron especulado; SW: Svarta] 



GENERAL DISTRIBUTION 



North America The White-winged Scoter breeds from northwestern Alaska, the 

 Yukon, and the Northwest Territories east to Hudson Bay, south through western 

 Canada to southern Manitoba (Johnsgard 1975) and south to northern North Dakota 

 and northeastern Washington. Most of the breeding population is found in ex- 

 treme northwestern Canada and northeastern Alaska (Palmer 1976b). 



White-winged Scoters winter in the Aleutians and along the southern coast 

 of Alaska south along the Pacific coast to northern Baja California. In the 

 western Atlantic they winter mainly from southern Newfoundland south along the 

 coast to South Carolina (Palmer 1976b), with very small numbers found farther 

 south and along the shores of the Gulf of Mexico. 



World Distribution Other races of the White-winged Scoter breed in the 

 northern Holarctic from Fenno-Scandia east through northern Eurasia to Kamchat- 

 ka thence south to Estonia and to 53° N latitude in western Siberia and Lake 

 Baikal (BOU 1971). Old World populations largely winter along the Atlantic, 

 North Sea, and Baltic coasts of Europe (BOU 1971, Cramp et al. 1977), and along 

 the coasts of eastern Asia south to Japan and China (Johnsgard 1978). 



DISTRIBUTION IN THE COASTAL SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES 



North Carolina White-Winged Scoters occur in small numbers in winter 

 (Map 27) along the North Carolina coast (Wray and Davis 1959); Potter el al . 

 (1980) considered them uncommon. They are found on the sounds and on the ocean 

 offshore from the outer beaches (Pearson et al. 1942). Maximum numbers report- 

 ed in the regional reports of American Birds include 35 seen off Atlantic Beach, 

 27 April 1974 (Teulings 1974b) and about 50 seen off Pea Island, 30 October 

 1971 (Teulings 1972a). Several unusual inland records are summarized by Weeks 

 (1975) and Harrison (1975). 



South Carolina White-winged Scoters are rare winter visitors on the South 

 Carolina coast, with most records of occurrence between early November and mid- 



Taxonomic note: North American populations have often been considered a dis- 

 tinct species, M. deglandi , with two subspecies (e.g., AOU 1957). We follow 

 most current workers in merging deglandi into fusca but have largely restricted 

 our literature survey to references on the American population. 



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