Greater Scaup (Aythya marila) lives in arctic tundra across Europe, North America. It feeds on mollusks and crustaceans. Its conservation status is Least Concern.
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A real field recording of the Greater Scaup, made in the wild.
Greater scaup obtain most of their food by diving beneath the water's surface. They regularly plunge to depths between 0.5 m and 6 m, and on rare occasions have been recorded at 10 m, allowing them to reach molluscs and insects hidden far below. Their web-footed bodies let them stay submerged for up to a minute, giving them enough time to capture prey before resurfacing.
During the autumn the species undertakes long migrations to reach wintering grounds far from their Arctic breeding sites. Some individuals travel several hundred kilometres to reach suitable moulting lakes, such as the journey from northern Scandinavia to the IJsselmeer in the Netherlands. These movements ensure they find shallow, food-rich waters where they can safely replace their feathers before the next breeding season.
In winter and during migration, greater scaup gather in enormous flocks known as rafts, sometimes numbering in the thousands. These massive congregations are most often seen on coastal bays, estuaries and large inland lakes, creating a striking visual spectacle. The sheer size of the rafts reflects the species' social nature and the abundance of suitable feeding habitats along their migratory routes.
Female greater scaup normally wait until they are two years old before they begin breeding, but they are capable of building a nest as early as their first year. Their nests are usually placed on islands in the large northern lakes they occupy during summer, where the female scrapes a shallow depression and lines it with her own down.
Sources
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As the Greater Scaup glides effortlessly across the water, its sleek, black head and yellow eyes seem to slice through the ripples, leaving a trail of subtle disturbance in its wake. With each stroke of its broad, grey wings, the bird propels itself forward with a quiet efficiency, its webbed feet paddling in perfect synchrony beneath the surface. In the fleeting moments of dawn and dusk, when the light dances across the waves, the Greater Scaup's iridescent feathers shimmer with a soft, ethereal beauty, a testament to the understated elegance of this unassuming, yet remarkable, creature.
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