Greater Scaup

The greater scaup, just scaup in Europe or bluebill in North America, is a mid-sized diving duck, larger than the closely related lesser scaup and the tufted duck. Males average slightly larger than females and have a light blue-grey bill and yellow eyes, with a dark head glossed green to purple, a black breast, white belly, pale grey upperparts and a strong white wing stripe (Wikipedia, general species account).

It breeds in summer from Iceland east across Scandinavia, northern Russia and Siberia to Alaska and northern Canada, and winters south to the coasts of Europe, eastern Asia and North America. It nests near water, typically on islands in northern lakes or floating mats of vegetation, and the female lays six to nine olive-buff eggs incubated for 24–28 days. It eats aquatic molluscs, plants and insects, diving to 0.5–6 m, exceptionally 10 m. SoIB 2023 lists it as a winter migrant of wetlands that eats invertebrates, and does not assign a priority category (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).