Data Zone
Taxonomic source(s)
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A. and Fishpool, L.D.C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 1: Non-passerines. Lynx Edicions BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.
| Critically Endangered | Endangered | Vulnerable |
|---|---|---|
| - | - | A2abcde |
| Year | Category | Criteria |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Vulnerable | A2abcde |
| 2018 | Vulnerable | A2abcde+3cde+4bcde |
| 2016 | Vulnerable | A2abcde+3cde+4bcde |
| 2015 | Vulnerable | A2abcde+3cde+4bcde |
| 2013 | Endangered | A2bcde+3cde+4bcde |
| 2012 | Endangered | A2bcde+3cde+4bcde |
| 2008 | Not Recognised | |
| 2004 | Not Recognised | |
| 2000 | Not Recognised | |
| 1994 | Not Recognised | |
| 1988 | Not Recognised |
| Migratory status | full migrant | Forest dependency | low |
| Land-mass type | Average mass | 1,757 g |
| Estimate | Data quality | |
|---|---|---|
| Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident) | 14,900,000 km2 | medium |
| Extent of Occurrence (non-breeding) | 9,340,000 km2 | medium |
| Severely fragmented? | no | - |
| Estimate | Data quality | Derivation | Year of estimate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Population size | 141000-268000 mature individuals | medium | estimated | 2020 |
| Population trend | decreasing | - | estimated | 2003-2021 |
| Rate of change over the past 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods) | 32-45,32% | - | - | - |
| Rate of change over the future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods) | 0-25% | - | - | - |
| Rate of change over the past & future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods) | 25-29% | - | - | - |
| Generation length | 6.2 years | - | - | - |
Population justification: Population data supplied the to the European Commission (EC) in late 2019 by Member States under Article 12 of the EU Birds Directive totalled 202,000-384,000 individuals. Based on previous estimates (e.g. BirdLife International 2015; Wetlands International 2020), >95% of the global population winters in the Baltic and adjacent NW Europe, so it is reasonable to assume that this is still the case. The population that winters in the Black and Caspian Seas appears to be rapidly disappearing (Paposhvili 2018), most recently estimated at 240-420 individuals (Wetlands International 2020). The total population of Velvet Scoter is now estimated at 210,000-400,000 individuals (BirdLife International in prep.). This is assumed to roughly equate to 141,000-268,000 mature individuals.
Trend justification: An apparent rapid decline of c. 60% was estimated from wintering numbers in the Baltic Sea, which fell from c. 933,000 in 1992-1993 (Skov et al. 2011) to c. 373,000 individuals in 2007-2009. Extrapolation of the data implied that this was equivalent to a decline of c.70% over the past three generations, estimated at 18.6 years (based on a generation length of c. 6.2 years, using methods in Bird et al. [2020]). The Baltic Sea is the most important wintering area in the world for this species, holding c.93% of the global population in 1992-1993. It seemed unlikely that the proportion of the total north-west European wintering population present in the Baltic has dropped from 93% to 37% (see Skov et al. 2011), thus a very rapid decline had probably taken place. Subsequently the wintering numbers appear to have stabilised (BirdLife International in prep., M. Ellermaa in litt. 2020, N. Markones in litt. 2020, S. Nagy in litt. 2020), with recent totals estimated at 202,000-384,000 (BirdLife International in prep.) and 320,000-550,000 (Dagys & Hearn 2018).
Evidence for rapid declines in the 1990s followed by an apparent stabilisation was also supplied by migration counts in the Baltic, including a long term decline in numbers passing Hanko Bird Observatory, Estonia, in autumn (at a rate of c. 50% over 30 years), which stopped in 1995 (M. Ellermaa in litt. 2012) and numbers have been largely stable since (M. Ellermaa in litt. 2020). Similarly, numbers passing Vyborg (eastern Gulf of Finland) decreased from an average of 130 birds/hour in 1988-1994, to 55 birds/hour in 1995-1999, and 53 birds/hour in 2000-2008, although error margins may be considerable (J. Kontiokorpi in litt. 2012, A. Lehikoinen et al. in litt. 2012). Numbers recorded at Söderskär Bird Observatory have also been decreasing since the 1980s (A. Lehikoinen et al. in litt. 2012).
The breeding population in the EU is estimated to have declined by approximately 30% over the past three generations (BirdLife International in prep.), and the population in the Caucasus appears close to extinction (Paposhvili 2018). The European Russian breeding population is thought to have declined by 50-80% since 1980 (Krivenko & Vinogradov 2008), which is consistent with the c. 60% decline recorded by Skov et al. (2011), although the recent Russian breeding trend is unknown (Voltzit & Kalyakin 2019).
It is therefore estimated that a very rapid decline occurred between 1992 and 2009, the majority of which likely occurred prior to 2002. Even with rough stability in the wintering population since 2009, a three generation past decline is estimated at 32-46%, but is suspected the rate will fall below 30% in following years. Future decline rates are uncertain but suspected to be moderate to moderately rapid.
| Country/Territory | Presence | Origin | Resident | Breeding visitor | Non-breeding visitor | Passage migrant |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afghanistan | extant | vagrant | ||||
| Algeria | extant | vagrant | ||||
| Armenia | extant | native | yes | |||
| Austria | extant | native | yes | |||
| Azerbaijan | extant | native | yes | |||
| Belarus | extant | native | yes | |||
| Belgium | extant | native | yes | |||
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | extant | vagrant | ||||
| Bulgaria | extant | native | yes | |||
| Croatia | extant | native | yes | |||
| Czechia | extant | native | yes | |||
| Denmark | extant | native | yes | yes | ||
| Egypt | extant | vagrant | ||||
| Estonia | extant | native | yes | yes | ||
| Faroe Islands (to Denmark) | extant | vagrant | ||||
| Finland | extant | native | yes | yes | ||
| France | extant | native | yes | yes | ||
| Georgia | extant | native | yes | |||
| Germany | extant | native | yes | yes | ||
| Greece | extant | vagrant | yes | |||
| Greenland (to Denmark) | extant | vagrant | ||||
| Hungary | extant | native | yes | |||
| Iceland | extant | vagrant | ||||
| Iran, Islamic Republic of | extant | native | yes | |||
| Ireland | extant | native | yes | |||
| Israel | extant | vagrant | ||||
| Italy | extant | native | yes | |||
| Kazakhstan | extant | native | yes | |||
| Kyrgyzstan | extant | vagrant | ||||
| Latvia | extant | native | yes | |||
| Lebanon | extant | vagrant | ||||
| Lithuania | extant | native | yes | |||
| Luxembourg | extant | vagrant | ||||
| Montenegro | extant | native | yes | |||
| Morocco | extant | vagrant | ||||
| Netherlands | extant | native | yes | |||
| North Macedonia | extant | vagrant | ||||
| Norway | extant | native | yes | yes | ||
| Pakistan | extant | vagrant | ||||
| Poland | extant | native | yes | yes | ||
| Portugal | extant | vagrant | ||||
| Romania | extant | native | yes | yes | ||
| Russia | extant | native | yes | yes | yes | |
| Russia (Central Asian) | extant | native | yes | yes | ||
| Russia (European) | extant | native | yes | yes | ||
| Serbia | extant | native | yes | |||
| Slovakia | extant | native | yes | |||
| Slovenia | extant | native | yes | |||
| Spain | extant | native | yes | |||
| Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands (to Norway) | extant | vagrant | ||||
| Sweden | extant | native | yes | |||
| Switzerland | extant | native | yes | |||
| Tajikistan | extant | vagrant | ||||
| Türkiye | extant | native | yes | |||
| Turkmenistan | extant | native | ||||
| Ukraine | extant | native | yes | |||
| United Kingdom | extant | native | yes | |||
| Uzbekistan | extant | native |
| Habitat (level 1) | Habitat (level 2) | Importance | Occurrence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forest | Boreal | suitable | breeding |
| Grassland | Tundra | suitable | breeding |
| Marine Neritic | Macroalgal/Kelp | major | non-breeding |
| Marine Neritic | Seagrass (Submerged) | major | non-breeding |
| Marine Neritic | Subtidal Loose Rock/pebble/gravel | major | non-breeding |
| Marine Neritic | Subtidal Rock and Rocky Reefs | major | non-breeding |
| Marine Neritic | Subtidal Sandy | major | non-breeding |
| Marine Neritic | Subtidal Sandy-Mud | major | non-breeding |
| Wetlands (inland) | Permanent Freshwater Lakes (over 8ha) | major | breeding |
| Altitude | Occasional altitudinal limits |
| Threat (level 1) | Threat (level 2) | Impact and Stresses | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Biological resource use | Fishing & harvesting aquatic resources - Unintentional effects: (large scale) [harvest] | Timing | Scope | Severity | Impact | ||||
| Ongoing | Majority (50-90%) | Slow, Significant Declines | Medium Impact: 6 | ||||||
|
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| Biological resource use | Hunting & trapping terrestrial animals - Intentional use (species is the target) | Timing | Scope | Severity | Impact | ||||
| Ongoing | Minority (<50%) | Negligible declines | Low Impact: 4 | ||||||
|
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| Climate change & severe weather | Habitat shifting & alteration | Timing | Scope | Severity | Impact | ||||
| Ongoing | Whole (>90%) | Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
|
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| Climate change & severe weather | Other impacts | Timing | Scope | Severity | Impact | ||||
| Ongoing | Whole (>90%) | Slow, Significant Declines | Medium Impact: 7 | ||||||
|
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| Energy production & mining | Mining & quarrying | Timing | Scope | Severity | Impact | ||||
| Ongoing | Minority (<50%) | Negligible declines | Low Impact: 4 | ||||||
|
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| Energy production & mining | Oil & gas drilling | Timing | Scope | Severity | Impact | ||||
| Ongoing | Minority (<50%) | Negligible declines | Low Impact: 4 | ||||||
|
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| Energy production & mining | Renewable energy | Timing | Scope | Severity | Impact | ||||
| Ongoing | Minority (<50%) | Negligible declines | Low Impact: 4 | ||||||
|
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| Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases | Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Neogobius melanostomus | Timing | Scope | Severity | Impact | ||||
| Ongoing | Minority (<50%) | Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
|
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| Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases | Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Neovison vison | Timing | Scope | Severity | Impact | ||||
| Ongoing | Minority (<50%) | Slow, Significant Declines | Low Impact: 5 | ||||||
|
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| Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases | Viral/prion-induced diseases - Avian Influenza Virus (H5N1 subtype) | Timing | Scope | Severity | Impact | ||||
| Future | Minority (<50%) | Rapid Declines | Low Impact: 4 | ||||||
|
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| Pollution | Industrial & military effluents - Oil spills | Timing | Scope | Severity | Impact | ||||
| Ongoing | Majority (50-90%) | Slow, Significant Declines | Medium Impact: 6 | ||||||
|
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| Pollution | Industrial & military effluents - Type Unknown/Unrecorded | Timing | Scope | Severity | Impact | ||||
| Ongoing | Majority (50-90%) | Negligible declines | Low Impact: 5 | ||||||
|
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| Purpose | Scale |
|---|---|
| Pets/display animals, horticulture | international |
| Sport hunting/specimen collecting | subsistence, national |
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Velvet Scoter Melanitta fusca. Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/velvet-scoter-melanitta-fusca on 22/11/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 22/11/2024.