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| Wetlands & Waterfowl's Guide to North American Waterfowl: | |||
| Click to load: American Bittern American Widgeon Black- Crowned Night Heron Black Duck Blue-Winged Teal Canada Goose Canvasback Cattle Egret Common Egret Cinnamon Teal Gadwall Great Blue Heron Great Egret Green-Winged Teal Greater Scaup Lesser Scaup Mallard Mute Swan Northern Pintail Northern Shoveler Redhead Ring-Necked Snowy Egret Snow Goose Trumpeter Swan Wood Duck |
Lesser Scaup Scroll down for details  Scientific Name: Aythya
affinis Habitat: Lakes, ponds, bays, estuaries Appearance: 15-19" long. Stocky, short white wing stripe shows in flight. Usually seen in very large flocks. Male: body pale grey; head glossy purple; breast and rump black; bill pale blue Female: body dark brown; white face patch; pale blue bill. Food: Aquatic plants, mollusks. Nesting: Nest is a hollow lined with plant matter and down, often in an open site. Female lays 6-15 olive-buff colored eggs and incubates for 26-27 days. Young are downy, leave the nest soon after hatching and fly at about 7 weeks. |
The Lesser Scaup (also known as little bluebill) looks very similar to the Greater Scaup, but can be distinguished by its smaller wing patch and diminutive size. The lesser scaup is also a more numerous and widespread species than the Greater Scaup. Scaup travel from place to place in compact formations, twisting and darting erratically. Its name is derived from its habit of feeding around oyster and mussel beds, which in Europe are called scaup beds. It also may have been named for its characteristic cry of "scaup-scaup".(see Greater Scaup) | |