Transactions
of the Azov-Black Sea Ornithological Station
A discovery of Common Scoter on the wintering grounds in the Crimea.
Pilyuga V. I.
The Black Scoter (Melanitta nigra L.) is a rare vagrant species for Ukraine. There were only 10 records of the species in XIX – XX centuries.
Three flocks of wintering Black Scoters with the total number of 103 individuals were seen at the Black Sea coast stretching 9 km east of Opuk Mountain (Crimea, Kerch Peninsula, near Yakovenkovo village). This is the first case of a large stray group of the species to Azov-Black Sea region and Ukraine.
Among the possible causes are invasion, change of the wintering area etc.
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