scoter

Dictionary: sco·ter (skō'tər) pronunciation

n.
Any of several dark-colored diving ducks of the genera Oidemia and Melanitta, of northern coastal areas. Also called coot.

[Origin unknown.]

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Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: scoter

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Any of three species (genus Melanitta) of diving duck that are mainly marine except during the breeding season. The males are shiny black. The surf scoter (Melanitta perspicillata) breeds in the forests and tundra of Canada and Alaska and winters on seacoasts as far south as Florida and southern California. The white-winged, or velvet, scoter (M. deglandi, or fusca) and the black, or common, scoter (M. nigra) occur north of the equator nearly worldwide. All three feed mainly on marine animals such as clams.

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WordNet: scoter

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Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.

The noun has one meaning:

Meaning #1: large black diving duck of northern parts of the northern hemisphere
Synonym: scooter

Wikipedia: Scoter

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For U.S. Navy ships named Scoter, see USS Scoter.

Scoters

Adult male White-winged Scoter (Melanitta deglandi)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Anseriformes
Family:	Anatidae
Genus:	Melanitta Boie, 1822
Species
Melanitta nigra (Common Scoter) Melanitta americana (Black or American Scoter) Melanitta fusca (Velvet Scoter) Melanitta deglandi (White-winged Scoter) Melanitta perspicillata (Surf Scoter)
Synonyms
Oidemia

The scoters are stocky seaducks in the genus Melanitta. The drakes are mostly black and have swollen bills. Females are brown.

They breed in the far north of Europe, Asia and North America, and winter further south in temperate zones of those continents. They form large flocks on suitable coastal waters. These are tightly packed, and the birds tend to take off together.

Their lined nests are built on the ground close to the sea, lakes or rivers, in woodland or tundra. These species dive for crustaceans and molluscs.

There are five species, grouped into two subgenera:

subgenus Oidemia (Black and Common Scoters)
subgenus Melanitta (Surf, Velvet and White-winged Scoters)

The presumed fossil "scoter" Melanitta ceruttii which lived in California during the Late Pliocene is now placed in the genus Histrionicus.

This Anseriformes article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

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	surf duck
	sea coot
	yellowbill

Woh konsi city hai jiska pehla lafz kat do to ek desh ka naam aur last kat do to car ka naam aur dono kat do to scoter ka naam banta hai? Read answer...

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Copyrights:

		Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more
		Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more
		WordNet. WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. Read more
		Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Scoter". Read more