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Bird name:

Greater Scaup

Aythya marila

Order

ANSERIFORMES

Family

Geese and Ducks (Anatidae)

Code 4

GRSC

Code 6

AYTMAR

ITIS

175130

ILLUSTRATION

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PHOTOS

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VOTE: ILLUSTRATION

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The orange "blossum" replaces the lid of a jelly jar.
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SUMMARY

Overview

Greater Scaup: Large diving duck with glossy green-black head, white sides and belly, black tail, neck and breast, barred gray flanks and back. Eyes are yellow. Bill is blue-gray with a black tip. Feeds on insects, plants, vertebrates and mollusks. Rapid direct flight with strong rapid wing beats.


Range and Habitat

Greater Scaup: Found in Alaska, northern Canada and along both north American coasts and sometimes along the gulf coasts. Prefers ponds, marshes and lakes.

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SONGS AND CALLS

Listen to Call

Greater Scaup

Voice Text

"scaup", "week-week-week"

INTERESTING FACTS

  • The Greater Scaup's name may come from its display call of "scaup scaup."
  • Occasionally an older female will have male-like head color and male patterning on her back, but she still has the typical white face patch of a female.
  • In North America, their population has been on a steady decline since the 1990's. Biologists and conservationists are unsure the reasons for decline. Some researchers believe a parasitic trematode found in snails may be to blame.
  • A group of ducks has many collective nouns, including a "brace", "flush", "paddling", "raft", and "team" of ducks.

RELATED BIRDS

RANGE MAP

Range Map for Greater Scaup

TERMINOLOGY

CREDITS

Author

Jane Wright

BIRD PHOTO SHARING

BIRD PHOTOGRAPHY AND CAMERAS

BINOCULARS AND OPTICS FOR BIRDING

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BellyX
The ventral part of the bird, or the area between the flanks on each side and the crissum and breast. Flight muscles are located between the belly and the breast.
BreastX
The upper front part of a bird.
4 and 6 letter alpha codesX

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

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ITIS CodesX

The Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) was established in the mid-1990�s as a cooperative project among several federal agencies to improve and expand upon taxonomic data (known as the NODC Taxonomic Code) maintained by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

To find the ITIS page for a bird species go to the ITIS web site advanced search and report page at http://www.itis.gov/advanced_search.html. You can enter the TSN or the common name of the bird. It will return the ITIS page for that bird. Another way to obtain the ITIS page is to use the Google search engine. Enter the string ITIS followed by the taxonomic ID, for example "ITIS 178041" will return the page for the Allen's Hummingbird.

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Parts of a Standing birdX
Head Feathers and MarkingsX
Parts of a Flying birdX