Birds of the Upper Cumberland Region: Species Accounts
Black Scoter (Melanitta nigra)
Abundance: Very Uncommon during fall/early winter; Occasional during spring; 20 records in 7 Regional counties, 6 in Kentucky and 1 in Tennessee (Map of UCR Distribution); data from the Regional bird-monitoring efforts are too few to determine a trend in the population migrating through the Region (see also Regional Bird-Monitoring Plan).
Status: Transient during fall/early winter (19 records) and spring (1 record); sight records.
Regional High Count: 7 (see second record below).
Information on Records:
5 November 1984 (4—age/sex unspecified) Waitsboro Recreation Area, Lake Cumberland, Pulaski County, Kentucky (Jackie B. Elmore, Sr. [notes]; Peterjohn 1985 [cites incorrect site]).
31 October 1993 (7—females or immatures) Casey Creek, Green River Lake, Adair County, Kentucky (Jackie B. Elmore, Sr.; Monroe, Stamm, and Stinson 1994a).
14 November 1997 (1—female or immature) Barren River Reservoir, Barren County, Kentucky (David L. Roemer; Busroe 1998a).
6 November 2002 (1—female or immature) Floating Mill Recreation Area, Center Hill Lake, DeKalb County, Tennessee (Stephen J. Stedman; Casteel 2003a).
9 November 2003 (1—age/sex unspecified) Fishing Creek Recreation Area, Lake Cumberland, Pulaski County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton; Palmer-Ball and McNeeley 2004a).
28 October 2005 (1—female or immature) Floating Mill Recreation Area, Center Hill Lake, DeKalb County, Tennessee (Stephen J. Stedman; Casteel 2006a).
18 November 2005 (3—females or immatures) Floating Mill Recreation Area, Center Hill Lake, DeKalb County, Tennessee (Stephen J. Stedman).
6 December 2005 (5—1 male and 4 females or immatures) Wolf Creek Dam, Russell County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton; Palmer-Ball and McNeeley 2006b).
12 November 2006 (1—age/sex unspecified) Waitsboro Recreation Area, Lake Cumberland, Pulaski County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton; Palmer-Ball and McNeeley 2007a).
12 November 2006 (1—female) Barren River Reservoir, Barren County, Kentucky (David L. Roemer; Palmer-Ball and McNeeley 2007a).
19 November 2007 (3—females or immatures) Mason's Island, Barren River Reservoir, Barren/Allen counties, Kentucky (T. Aaron Hulsey).
24 November/14 December 2007 (3—age/sex unspecified) Wolf Creek Dam, Lake Cumberland, Russell County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton).
29 October 2008 (1—female) Barren River Reservoir, Barren/Allen counties, Kentucky (David L. Roemer).
11 December 2009 (2—age/sex unspecified) Lake Cumberland State Resort Park, Russell County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton).
4 November 2010 (5—age/sex unspecified) Wolf Creek Dam, Lake Cumberland, Russell County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton); Note: three of this species were noted at Lake Cumberland State Resort Park on this date (Roseanna M. Denton), possibly some of the same birds.
5 November 2010 (2—age/sex unspecified) Waitsboro Recreation Area, Lake Cumberland, Pulaski County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton).
5 November 2010 (2—age/sex unspecified) Mill Springs Mill, Wayne County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton).
8/19 November 2010 (6—age/sex unspecified/4—age/sex unspecified) Barren River Reservoir, Barren/Allen counties, Kentucky (David L. Roemer).
14 April 2012 (2—age/sex unspecified) end of Holmes-Mt. Carmel Rd., Green River Lake, Adair County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton).
18 November 2018 (1 age/sex unspecified) Tompkinsville City Park, Monroe County, Kentucky (Rickey Shive photo, an eBird record [# S50027286]).
Regional Extreme Dates:
Fall: 28 October 2005 (DeKalb County, Tennessee; Stephen J. Stedman; Casteel 2006a)–14 December 2007 (Russell County, Kentucky; Roseanna M. Denton unpubl. data).
Spring: 14 April 2012 (Adair County, Kentucky; Roseanna M. Denton); only spring record.
YardWatch Results 2003 and 2004: No registrations.
Habitat: Usually associated with large, open lakes.
Remarks: Note the similar dates of the Regional sightings, indicative of the period during which future sightings are most likely to occur.
Check-lists of Birds for the Counties of the UCR
Check-lists of the birds of each county of the Upper Cumberland Region may be viewed by clicking on the links below. For each county, there are two check-lists: one list that shows the species that have been observed and where possible documented in the county within the larger list for the entire Region; and one list that includes only the species observed in the county with annotations for the date and observers for at least one sighting (the ultimate goal of the latter list will be to include annotations for the very first known Regional observation of each species in that county; this goal is probably one that will take many years to complete, if completion is even a possibility). To see if the species discussed in this species account has been observed in a county, click below or click on the link for the Map of UCR Distribution near the top of the page.
| Barren | Metcalfe | Adair | Russell | Pulaski |
| Monroe | Cumberland | Clinton | Wayne | McCreary |
| Macon | Clay | Pickett | Fentress | Scott |
| Smith | Jackson | Overton | Putnam | Morgan |
| DeKalb | White | Cumberland | ||
| Warren | Van Buren | Bledsoe |
Check-lists of Birds for Some Public Access Birding Sites of the UCR
Check-lists of the birds of some public access birding sites within the Upper Cumberland Region may be viewed via the links below. To see if the species dealt with in this species account has been observed within any of these sites, click on the appropriate link below. See the pages for each county within the Gazetteer for links to additional smaller public access birding sites with check-lists in progress.
Literature Cited
