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Aythya marila

(Linnaeus, 1761)

Greater Scaup

G5Secure Found in 38 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →
G5SecureGlobal Rank
Least concernIUCN
Identity
Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.102413
Element CodeABNJB11060
Record TypeSPECIES
ClassificationSpecies
Classification StatusStandard
Name CategoryVertebrate Animal
IUCNLeast concern
Endemicoccurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations
KingdomAnimalia
PhylumCraniata
ClassAves
OrderAnseriformes
FamilyAnatidae
GenusAythya
Other Common Names
Fuligule milouinan (FR) Pato Boludo-Mayor (ES)
Concept Reference
American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. [as modified by subsequent supplements and corrections published in The Auk]. Also available online: http://www.aou.org/.
Conservation Status
Rank MethodExpertise without calculation
Review Date2016-04-06
Change Date1996-11-21
Edition Date2014-03-14
Edition AuthorsJue, Dean K.
Range Extent>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)
Number of Occurrences81 to >300
Rank Reasons
This species continue to decline for unknown reasons so its ranking needs regular re-visting for possible revisions. At this time, with an estimated one million or more, a G5 ranking is still most appropriate.
Range Extent Comments
Holarctic. BREEDS: in Northern America, northern Alaska east across Canada to Hudson Bay, central Quebec, and New Brunswick (McAlpine et al. 1988), south to northwestern British Columbia, southeastern Michigan. WINTERS: southeastern Alaska south to Baja California; from eastern Great Lakes area and Canadian Maritime Provinces to southern Florida and Gulf Coast; casual in Hawaii. Primary wintering areas include the coastal Pacific Northwest, southern and eastern Great Lakes, and Atlantic coast centering around Long Island Sound (Root 1988).
Occurrences Comments
This is one of the few duck species that has a circumpolar distribution
Threat Impact Comments
Declines may be due to the effect of poor water quality on food resources and/or poor reproduction caused by contaminants (Barclay and Zingo 1994). Global warming has also been suggested as a threat, with the increase of non-breeding birds during the summer in tundra perhaps be attributable to unsuitable nesting habitat (Kessel, Rocque, and Barclay, 2002).
Ecology & Habitat

Habitat

In migration and winter, found in bays, estuaries, and large open inland lakes and rivers.

Breeds near shores of ponds and lakes, in marshes, or on islands, primarily in forested tundra and northern borders of the taiga; among grass or shrubs, or under spruce boughs. The nest is a hollow lined with plant material, down and feathers.

Ecology

May gather in winter flocks of up to 50,000 individuals.

Reproduction

Clutch size averages about 8-9. Incubation: 23-27 days, by female. Males usually abandon females in early incubation. Young are tended by female, fledge in 9-10 weeks. May nest in colonies of 50+ pairs.
Palustrine Habitats
HERBACEOUS WETLANDRiparian
Other Nations (2)
United StatesN5B,N5N
ProvinceRankNative
ConnecticutSNAYes
North DakotaSNAYes
DelawareS3NYes
VermontS3NYes
MichiganSNRNYes
MissouriSNRNYes
ArizonaS1NYes
New MexicoS4NYes
New JerseySNRMYes
North CarolinaS2NYes
ArkansasSNAYes
MarylandS4NYes
WisconsinS4NYes
MinnesotaSNRMYes
VirginiaSNRNYes
WashingtonS3NYes
AlaskaS5B,S5NYes
KentuckyS2NYes
Rhode IslandSNAYes
LouisianaS4NYes
WyomingS4NYes
ColoradoSNAYes
MontanaSNAYes
MassachusettsS5NYes
UtahSNAYes
New YorkSNRNYes
South DakotaSNAYes
New HampshireSNAYes
IllinoisSNAYes
District of ColumbiaS1NYes
MississippiS5NYes
South CarolinaS3NYes
IdahoSNAYes
NebraskaSNRNYes
OregonS4NYes
TexasS3NYes
IndianaS3NYes
GeorgiaS4Yes
FloridaS4NYes
CaliforniaSNRNYes
MaineS3NYes
IowaS2NYes
OhioSNRNYes
NevadaSNAYes
KansasS2NYes
TennesseeS4NYes
West VirginiaS3NYes
AlabamaS4NYes
PennsylvaniaS2N,S4MYes
CanadaN5B,N5N
ProvinceRankNative
SaskatchewanS5MYes
NunavutS4BYes
New BrunswickS1B,S2N,S4MYes
AlbertaSUB,S5MYes
British ColumbiaS4NYes
QuebecS4BYes
Nova ScotiaS4N,SUMYes
Island of NewfoundlandS4BYes
Northwest TerritoriesS5Yes
OntarioS4B,S4N,S5MYes
ManitobaS4BYes
LabradorS5BYes
Yukon TerritoryS2BYes
Prince Edward IslandS4NYes
Threat Assessments
ThreatScopeSeverityTiming
11 - Climate change & severe weatherPervasive (71-100%)UnknownLow (long-term)
11.1 - Habitat shifting & alterationPervasive (71-100%)UnknownLow (long-term)

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Roadless Areas (38)
Alaska (22)
AreaForestAcres
Chugach-13Chugach National Forest13,337
Copper River WetlandsChugach National Forest85,972
Douglas IslandTongass National Forest28,065
Fidalgo-GravinaChugach National Forest257,968
Johnson PassChugach National Forest152,508
Juneau UrbanTongass National Forest101,581
Kenai LakeChugach National Forest213,172
Kenai MountainsChugach National Forest306,600
Middle KruzofTongass National Forest14,724
North BaranofTongass National Forest314,089
North KruzofTongass National Forest33,146
Port AlexanderTongass National Forest120,681
RedoubtTongass National Forest68,347
ResurrectionChugach National Forest224,615
RhineTongass National Forest23,010
Roaded DonutChugach National Forest968
Sheridan GlacierChugach National Forest224,683
Sitka UrbanTongass National Forest112,003
South KruzofTongass National Forest55,193
Taku-SnettishamTongass National Forest664,928
Upper SitukTongass National Forest16,789
Yakutat ForelandsTongass National Forest323,648
Arizona (2)
AreaForestAcres
GoldfieldTonto National Forest15,257
Horse MesaTonto National Forest9,146
California (1)
AreaForestAcres
JuncalLos Padres National Forest12,289
Idaho (1)
AreaForestAcres
Peace RockBoise National Forest191,734
Montana (1)
AreaForestAcres
Gallatin FringeGallatin National Forest51,571
Nevada (1)
AreaForestAcres
Pearl PeakHumboldt-Toiyabe National Forest71,405
Oregon (4)
AreaForestAcres
Mt. BaileyUmpqua National Forest18,401
TenmileSiuslaw National Forest10,818
Umpqua SpitSiuslaw National Forest2,090
WoahinkSiuslaw National Forest5,309
Utah (2)
AreaForestAcres
CottonwoodDixie National Forest6,754
WellsvilleWasatch-Cache National Forest1,717
Virginia (1)
AreaForestAcres
Bear CreekJefferson National Forest18,274
Washington (1)
AreaForestAcres
South QuinaultOlympic National Forest11,081
West Virginia (1)
AreaForestAcres
Middle MountainMonongahela National Forest19,020
Wyoming (1)
AreaForestAcres
Gros Ventre MountainsBridger-Teton National Forest106,418
References (29)
  1. American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1983. Check-list of North American Birds, 6th edition. Allen Press, Inc., Lawrence, Kansas. 877 pp.
  2. American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. [as modified by subsequent supplements and corrections published in <i>The Auk</i>]. Also available online: http://www.aou.org/.
  3. Barclay, J., and J. Zingo. 1994. Winter scaup populations in Connecticut coastal waters. Connecticut Warbler 13:136-150.
  4. Bellrose, F.C. 1976. Ducks, geese and swans of North America. Stackpole Books, Harrisburg, PA.
  5. BirdLife International. 2004b. Threatened birds of the world 2004. CD ROM. BirdLife International, Cambridge, UK.
  6. BirdLife International. (2013-2014). IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on various dates in 2013 and 2014. http://www.birdlife.org/
  7. Eadie, J. M., L.-P. L. Savard, and M. L. Mallory. 2000 Barrow's Goldeneye (BUCEPHALA ISLANDICA). No. 548 IN A. Poole and F. Gill, editors, The birds of North America. The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA. 32pp.
  8. Grand, J.B., and P.L. Flint. 1997. Productivity of nesting Spectacled Eiders on the lower Kashunuk River, Alaska. Condor 100:926-932.
  9. Harrison, C. 1978. A Field Guide to the Nests, Eggs and Nestlings of North American Birds. Collins, Cleveland, Ohio.
  10. Howell, S. N. G., and S. Webb. 1995. A guide to the birds of Mexico and northern Central America. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK.
  11. Johnson, S. R. and D. R. Herter. 1989. The Birds of the Beaufort Sea. BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc., Anchorage, Alaska. 372 pp.
  12. Kessel, B., D.A. Racque, and J.S. Barclay. 2002. Greater Scaup (<i>Aythya marila</i>). The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, ed.). Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, Ithaca. Retrieved from the Birds of North America Online: http://bna.birds.cornell.edu.bnaproxy.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/650/doi:10.2173/bna.650.
  13. McAlpine, D.F., M. Phinney, and S. Makepeace. 1988a. New Brunswick breeding of Wilson's phalarope, PHALAROPUS TRICOLOR, confirmed. Canadian Field-Naturalist 102:77-78.
  14. McAlpine, D. F., S. Makepeace, and M. Phinney. 1988c. Breeding records of the greater scaup, AYTHYA MARILA, in New Brunswick. Canadian Field-Nat. 102:718-719.
  15. National Audubon Society. 2014. View all Species. Website accessible at http://birds.audubon.org/species. Accessed on various dates in 2014.
  16. Parker III, T. A., D. F. Stotz, and J. W. Fitzpatrick. 1996. Ecological and distributional databases for neotropical birds. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
  17. Peterson, R.T. 1980b. A field guide to the birds of eastern and central North America. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston.
  18. Peterson, R.T. 1990b. A field guide to western birds. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston.
  19. Poole, A. F. and F. B. Gill. 1992. The birds of North America. The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. and The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA.
  20. Raffaele, H., J. Wiley, O. Garrido, A. Keith, and J. Raffaele. 1998. A guide to the birds of the West Indies. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ. 511 pp.
  21. Reed, A. 1975. Migration, homing, and mortality of breeding female eiders SOMATERIA MOLLISSIMA DRESSERI of the St. Lawrence estuary, Quebec. Ornis Scand. 6:41-47.
  22. Root, T. 1988. Atlas of wintering North American birds: An analysis of Christmas Bird Count data. University of Chicago Press. 336 pp.
  23. Sibley, D. A. 2000a. The Sibley guide to birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.
  24. Stiles, F. G. and A. F. Skutch. 1989. A guide to the birds of Costa Rica. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York, USA. 511 pp.
  25. Swennen, C. 1990. Dispersal and migratory movements of eiders SOMATERIA MOLLISSIMA breeding in the Netherlands. Ornis Scand. 21:17-27.
  26. Terres, J. K. 1980. The Audubon Society encyclopedia of North American birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.
  27. van de Wetering, D. 1997. Moult characteristics and habitat selection of post-breeding male Barrow's Goldeneye (BUCEPHALA ISLANDICA) in northern Yukon. Technical Report Series No. 296, Canadian Wildlife Service, Quebec Region.
  28. Wakeley, J. S., and H. L. Mendall. 1976. Migrational homing and survival of adult female eiders in Maine. Journal of Wildlife Management 40:15-21.
  29. Zook, J. L. 2002. Distribution maps of the birds of Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama. Unpublished.