Velvet Scoter

Melanitta fusca

Order: Anseriformes
Family: Anatidae
Presence in the Strait: Vagrant
IUCN (global): VU · Vulnerable
In Spanish: Negrón especulado

Photograph: egorbirder, CC BY, vía iNaturalist

Length: 51–58 cm
Wingspan: 90–99 cm
Weight: 1,400–1,750 g

Presence in the Strait

Accidental. One male and two females on 23.03.93 at Bay of Algeciras together with a flock of Common Scoter.

Identification

Similar to the Common Scoter but with a white wing panel in flight and white speculum in swimming birds. Small white crescent under eyes in adult males and pale patch on ear coverts in females and juveniles. They breed along the coasts of the Baltic Sea and on the Arctic tundra.

Bioestrecho editorial text. Last revised: 8 September 2026.

Photographs from iNaturalist observations with the licence checked file by file. Those marked “Strait” were taken within the area; place and date are those of each observation.

Calendar in the Strait

100 %

Peak in November. Observations under CC0 or CC BY licences. The distribution also reflects observation effort.

Where it is seen

Open records from the atlas database, in cells of about 3.6 km. Opacity follows the square root of the count, and also reflects where people observe most.

See on the map

First open record: 18 November 2024
Latest record: 29 November 2024

The oldest and the most recent open observation in the extended area. A recent first observation does not mean the species is new: it means nobody had published it openly before.

Conservation

The catalogues, Andalusian and Spanish, are what binds; the Red Book assesses the Spanish population with IUCN criteria, and the global Red List is the context.

LCNTVUENCR

Andalusian Catalogue: Not included
Spanish Catalogue: Not included
Red Book of the Birds of Spain 2021: NE · Not evaluated · wintering or migrating
Global Red List (IUCN): VU · Vulnerable

Andalusian Catalogue: Junta de Andalucía, list of 24 April 2025. Spanish Catalogue: MITECO, table of 30 June 2025. Red Book: SEO/BirdLife, 2021 (Annex I). IUCN: via GBIF, 6 September 2026. Red Book and IUCN categories are assessments; catalogue categories are legal obligations.

Same genus in the Strait

Common Scoter44–54 cm · Seasonal · overlapping size

Species of the same genus that also occur here, ordered by how close they are in size. Being relatives does not mean they are confused in the field, but that is where the doubts start: compare size and season.

Classification

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Anseriformes
Family: Anatidae
GBIF taxon key: 2498238

Sources

Distribution and calendar: Bioestrecho's own database, ingested from GBIF and OBIS
Photograph: egorbirder, CC BY, vía iNaturalist
Taxonomy: GBIF backbone, pending WoRMS for marine taxa
Editorial text: written by Bioestrecho
Last revised: 8 September 2026

Velvet Scoter

Presence in the Strait

Identification

Gallery