Following the November discovery of a globally-threatened species at the Mai Po Nature Reserve, another first-time Hong Kong winter bird visitor has been found within a month - Black Scoter Melanitta nigra (americana).

The Black Scoter was located by WWF research staff on the freshwater ponds at the Mai Po Nature Reserve on 9th December 2007. Being a juvenile bird lacking any obvious plumage markings its identity was at first uncertain. However with the help of a local photographer and several Hong Kong based bird experts it was confirmed as a first winter Black Scoter, probably a female.

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The Black Scoter is a large "Sea Duck" with a body length up to 50 centimeters and a wingspan of 70-80 centimeters. They are mostly encountered in coastal bays and along coastlines in shallow water within a mile of shore. This species breeds in northern latitudes ranging from the far north of North America to the Southeast in Alaska and on the Siberian side of the Bering Straits.

In winter, Black Scoter head southward to coastal areas within temperate zones such as northern USA, Canada, Gulf of Mexico, Western Europe, and East Asia. However, it is considered a rare winter visitor to Eastern China as until now they had only been recorded as far south as Fujian Province (450Km northeast of Hong Kong).

Mr. Bena Smith, Reserve Officer at Mai Po Nature Reserve, commented there are three recognised species of Scoter in the world, but the one found at Mai Po is the least common and has a very unusual characteristic. When swimming it occasionally does a "Wing-flap" display, flapping its wings whilst holding its body out of the water, followed by a downward head thrust, as if its neck were momentarily broken."

"As this is the first record south of Fujian it has to be considered a vagrant, and as it is a first year bird, being no more than 10 months old, it may have lost its way having not flown the migration route before. These things do happen to young birds if they became separated from the main flock during migration," said Mr. Smith.

"It will be interesting to see if other sightings follow this one in the coming winters. We don't know if the bird is still here, its presence inside Mai Po away from the coast is in itself quite unusual, but suspect it might now be in Deep Bay feeding on molluscs and crustaceans, maybe even oysters at Lau Fau Shan!" Mr. Smith continued.

Situated on the East Asia-Australasian Flyway, the Mai Po Inner Deep Bay wetland acts as an important stop-over site for many migratory shorebirds to rest, feed and replenish their energy reserves before setting off on the next stage of their long journey. More than 380 bird species (both migratory and resident), have been recorded from the wetlands, which is more than 80% of the total bird species known in Hong Kong. Twenty-seven of the Mai Po species are of global conservation concern.

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