Habitat
Nests near lakes and pools on grassy or brushy tundra and in northern taiga (AOU 1983). Usually nests close to water. In Quebec, Black Scoters used shallow (<5 m) lakes, generally with till or rock substrate (Bordage and Savard 1995). They preferred lakes <10 ha in area, but also used lakes up to 100 ha. On the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, Black Scoters used disturbed areas such as river banks and sloughs, preferring areas of tall grass used to conceal nests (C.P. Dau per. comm. in Bordage and Savard 1995).
References
AOU. 1983. Check-list of North American birds. 6th ed.American Ornithologists’ Union, Washington D. C.
Bordage, D. and J. L. Savard. 1995. Black Scoter (Melanitta nigra). In The Birds of North America, No. 177 (A. Poole and F. Gill, Eds.). Philadelphia: The Academy of Natural Sciences; Washington, D.C.: The American Ornithologists’ Union.
