According to one source, the San Francisco Bay region supports the largest wintering population of Surf Scoters in the Pacific Flyway. Some of the best places in the East Bay, is at the Martin Luther Regional Park in Oakland, Miller Knox Park in Point Richmond, and the Cesar Chavez Park in Berkeley.

Surf Scoters eat mostly Aquatic Invertebrates and fish. They eat lesser quantities of green plant matter. Scoters breed in Canada and Alaska and are a winter visitor to the Bay area.