Birds of the Lower Ohio River Valley in West Virginia
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White-winged Scoter Melanitta fusca
WINTER: Casual Visitant. One CBC record, 1988 on the Huntington, WV CBC. Early dates, 09 January 1988 at Green Bottom WMA (WA); 12 January 1971 at Byrd Locks & Dam (HS); 20 January 2005 at Milton, Cabell Co., WV (WA). See Remarks section..
SUMMER: NO RECORDS.
MIGRATION:
Spring: Casual Visitant from early March to late May. Late dates, one on 24 May 1998 on the Ohio River at Huntington, WV (HS); 18 May 1961 (RK) (Edeburn et al. 1960); one on 03 May 2008 at Byrd Locks & Dam (MG, DP); one on 27 April 1997 at Harris River Front Park (WA). See Remarks section.
Fall: NO RECORDS.
REMARKS:
Edeburn et al. (1960) cited two records. At least 20 local records were noted by the mid-1980's (Kiff et al. 1960). Records are of 1 to 2 birds, except 8 on 22 January 1982 on the Ohio River at Huntington, WV (GR). Peterjohn (2001) noted that this species had declined in Ohio since the 1970's and other scoters have increased. Surf Scoters' are now the most frequent scoter in Ohio since the 1980's (Peterjohn 2001). In our area, White-winged Scoter records have decreased in the 1990's, while 9 of 10 Surf Scoter records have occurred since 1992.