Greater Scaup

How to identify

Field marks

1. Bill blue with a small black nail at the tip, eyes yellow
2. Head black with a green metallic gloss in male
3. Male has a black breast and bright white belly and flanks
4. A single white stripe on the wing

Male, female and young

Male has a rounder head; female mostly rufous with a white patch at the base of the bill; juvenile resembles female.

Voice

Female gives a monotonous, harsh “arrr-arrr-arrr”; male gives soft, rapid whistles during courtship.

Similar species

Lesser Scaup

Often difficult to separate in the field. This species usually has a rounder head, longer white wing stripe, larger and broader bill, and a slightly larger black nail at the bill tip.

Where and when it's recorded

Busiest months: January and March–April · Most records: United States, Canada, United Kingdom

Greater Scaup has been recorded at 1,596 of the 8,276 birding hotspots we track, in 76 countries and regions.

Records by month Northern Hemisphere

Where it's recorded most

1. Tommy Thompson ParkCanada10,645 records
2. Toronto – Colonel Samuel Smith ParkCanada6,551 records
3. Point Pelee National ParkCanada6,516 records

Countries and regions with the most records

United StatesCanadaUnited KingdomJapanChinaIcelandPolandSweden

eBird records via GBIF up to 2024-12-31. A record means someone listed it; more records partly mean more birders, not more birds.

About

The greater scaup (Aythya marila), just scaup in Europe or, colloquially, "bluebill" in North America, is a mid-sized diving duck, larger than the closely related lesser scaup and tufted duck. It spends the summer months breeding in Iceland, east across Scandinavia, northern Russia and Siberia, Alaska, and northern Canada. During the winter, it migrates south to the coasts of Europe, eastern Asia, and North America.

Excerpt from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · authors · Read more on Wikipedia

Questions