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The greater scaup (Aythya marila), just scaup in Europe or, colloquially, "bluebill" in North America, [3] 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 .
This group of ducks is so named because its members feed mainly by diving, although in fact the Netta species are reluctant to dive, and feed more like dabbling ducks. These are gregarious ducks, mainly found on fresh water or on estuaries, though the greater scaup becomes marine during the northern winter. They are strong fliers; their broad ...
Scaup is the common name for three species of diving duck: Greater scaup, or just "scaup", Aythya marila; Lesser scaup, Aythya affinis;
Greater scaup: Iceland, Northern Europe, Northern Asia except the Far East (A. m. marila); far northeastern Asia, Alaska, northern Canada (A. m. nearctica) least concern A. affinis: Lesser scaup: Alaska through western Canada to western Montana, wintering east to the Atlantic Coast and south to Central America; occasional visitor to Western Europe
They are known to target diving diver ducks such as bluebills (greater scaup), canvasback, goldeneye, scoter and eider to name a few. Layout hunters usually deploy large spreads of diver ducks in open water areas. Many successful patterns have been created for these spreads over the years. Some layout hunters will use as many as 300 decoys or more.
The subgenus Aythya (the "scaup", including New Zealand Scaup, ring-necked duck, tufted duck, greater scaup and lesser scaup) is the sister group of subgenus Nyroca. The subgenus Aristonetta (the "redheads", including the common pochard, canvasback and redhead) is the sister group of all other pochards. [5]
This group is then sister to the monophyletic group consisting of the white-eyes (hardhead, Madagascar pochard, and the sister species ferruginous duck and baer's pochard) and scaups (New Zealand scaup, ring-necked duck, tufted duck, greater scaup, lesser scaup). [5]
Gulls are typically gray or white, often with black markings on the head or wings. They have stout, longish bills and webbed feet. Terns are a group of generally medium to large seabirds typically with gray or white plumage, often with black markings on the head. Most terns hunt fish by diving but some pick insects off the surface of fresh water.