Walking on Water

This ocean dwelling bird is known as the Surf Scoter, equipped with special glands to help filter out salt from its prey and from sea water. These glands concentrate salt from the bird's blood, which is then excreted in drops from the nostrils. The Surf Scoter's salt glands expand during the winter, while these ducks are at sea, then shrink in the summer when the scoters move inland to boreal habitats around freshwater lakes and ponds. The Surf Scoter is the only scoter species that breeds solely in North America, nesting near freshwater in remote boreal-forest regions of Canada and Alaska.