Breeding bird surveys indicate a long-term decline in numbers of scoters (Melanitta spp.) breeding in North America. Little is known about the breeding habitat and reproductive life history of White-winged Scoters (M. fusca) in their primary breeding areas in the boreal forest of Alaska and northern Canada. We characterized selection of nest habitats and attributes within those habitats by measuring variables at nests and random sites on the Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska. White-winged Scoters avoided nesting in meadows, but nested in scrub or forested habitat types in proportion to their availability (χ²₅ = 9.7, P = 0.08). Nests of radio-marked females were farther from water and edge ( 210 ± 43 and 10 ± 4 m, respectively), and in slightly thicker cover ( 6 ± 4%) than nests located without aid of radio transmitters. Females selected sites with more variable and abundant overhead and lateral cover, and sites closer to edge and water than random sites. The results imply nearly random use of scrub and forested habitat types within the study area, but selective use of attributes within those habitat types. This generalist approach to nest site selection at a larger scale may be an adaptive response to reduce detection by nest predators. Nests located without use of radio-marked females may not be representative of the population of nests at a study site. White-winged Scoters often selected nest sites with dense cover far from water, which may increase nest survival. However, concealed sites are difficult for heavy-bodied birds to escape and females may be trading productivity against their own mortality.