Species

Lesser scaup

Aythya affinis

The commonest diving duck on Georgia's big lakes in winter, a black-and-white bird with a peaked head and blue bill.

Photo Chuck Homler d/b/a Focus On Wildlife (opens in a new tab) / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (opens in a new tab)

At a glance

Size: About 38 to 48 cm long
Weight: About 450 to 1,100 g
Habitat: Lakes, reservoirs, rivers and coastal bays
Diet: Snails, clams, insect larvae and aquatic plants
In Georgia: A common winter visitor, November to April
Voice: Mostly quiet; a purring note in courtship
Rabies vector: No

Identification

Male: Peaked head with a purple gloss; black breast; finely barred grey back; whitish sides; blue bill with a small black tip
Female: Brown with a white patch at the base of the bill
In flight: A white stripe on the inner wing only
Told apart from: Greater scaup, which has a rounder head, green gloss and a longer white wing stripe
Told apart from: Ring-necked duck, which has a black back and a white ring on the bill
Where to look: Rafts on reservoirs and large lakes

Behaviour

Lesser scaup dive for small animals and plants, usually in water a few metres deep. Winter flocks can number in the thousands on big lakes, and they often feed at night.

Why they matter

Lesser scaup are one of the most abundant diving ducks in North America, and their winter flocks are an important food for bald eagles on Georgia's reservoirs. They have declined over recent decades, and their long-distance migration links wetlands from the boreal forest to the Gulf of Mexico.

Reproduction and lifecycle

Nest — A bowl of grass and down near water
Eggs — Usually 8 to 11
Incubation — About 22 to 27 days
Ducklings — Leave the nest within a day
Flight — At about seven to eight weeks
Lifespan — Usually a few years; some over eighteen

Living around people

Large rafts of ducks on a reservoir in winter are usually scaup and ring-necked ducks resting between feeding.
Lead shot and fishing weights on lake beds poison diving ducks.

Misconceptions

A duck that dives and disappears is in trouble. Diving ducks can stay under for 20 seconds or more while feeding.

Related species

Seasonal activity

When this species is breeding, and when there are nests on the ground. Mowing during the shaded months is how most nests are found.

Breeding and active nests by month for this species
	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Breeding	Jan: no	Feb: no	Mar: no	Apr: no	May: no	Jun: no	Jul: no	Aug: no	Sep: no	Oct: no	Nov: no	Dec: no
Active nests	Jan: no	Feb: no	Mar: no	Apr: no	May: no	Jun: no	Jul: no	Aug: no	Sep: no	Oct: no	Nov: no	Dec: no
Notes	Wintering in large flocks	Wintering; pairs forming	Migrating north	Last birds leave	Nesting begins in the north	Nesting	Ducklings hatching	Ducklings growing	Young flying	Migration begins	Arriving in Georgia	Wintering

Where it lives

Recorded in 88 states and provinces. Each one links to the other animals there, and to the rehabilitators licensed for them.

United States

Canada

If you found one

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