Greater Scaup (Aythya marila)

The Greater Scaup (Aythya marila), or just Scaup in Europe, is a small diving duck. It breeds on the ground by lakes and bogs on the tundra and at the northern limits of the boreal forest across Arctic and subarctic regions of northern North America, Europe and Asia.

The adult Greater Scaup is 42-51 cm long with a 71-80 cm wingspan, larger than the Lesser Scaup. It has a blue bill and yellow eyes. The male has a dark head with a green sheen, a black breast, a light back, a black tail and a white bottom. The adult female has a white band at the base of the bill and a brown head and body.

Nearctic Greater Scaup are separable from Palaearctic birds by stronger vermiculation on the mantle and scapulars, and are considered a separate subspecies, A. m. nearctica.

Greater Scaup migrate southwards to winter in flocks to coastal waters.

The Greater Scaup mainly eat mollusks and aquatic plants, obtained by diving and swimmming underwater. There is a report of it eating leopard frogs in a fresh water environment.

This bird's name may come from its display call scaup scaup. It is usually silent when not breeding.

The Greater Scaup is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.

Bald Eagles can weigh up to 14 pounds and attain a height of 3 to 3 1/2 feet. They have a huge wing span of 6–8 feet. Typically, the female of the species is larger that the male and bald eagles living in the north are believed to be larger than ones in the south. They can live up to 30 years in the wild and even longer in captivity.