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Surf scoters are common in California's coastal waters and bays for much of the year, but they move far to the north to breed. Both sexes congregate in winter feeding flocks, diving repeatedly for mussels, clams, and other shelfish, which they swallow whole. Females and young males, as on this page, are plain brownish. Males (here) have black-and white coloration and garish multicolored bills. These scoters were in a small recreational lake between Mountain View and Palo Alto, California; the others (including the one eating a clam) were at Bolsa Chica wetlands in coastal Orange County, CA or the Salton Sea, CA (flying bird). Populations of all three species of scoters have declined in the past decade. |
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