Greater scaup

The greater scaup is a mid sized diving duck, larger than its close relatives the lesser scaup and tufted duck, formally described by Carl Linnaeus in 1761 as Anas marila with Lapland as its type locality; the genus name Aythya comes from an Ancient Greek word for a seabird mentioned by Aristotle, and marila comes from the Greek word for charcoal embers. Males measure 39 to 56 centimeters in length with a 71 to 84 centimeter wingspan and weigh 726 to 1,360 grams, roughly 20 percent heavier and 10 percent longer than lesser scaups, and show a light blue grey bill, yellow eyes, a head with a green to purple gloss depending on the light, a black breast, white belly, pale grey upperparts and white wing stripes; females are predominantly brown with white wing markings, dull blue bills and a white patch on the face. The species has a circumpolar distribution, breeding within the Arctic Circle across Iceland, Scandinavia, northern Russia, Siberia, Alaska and northern Canada, and wintering on coastal areas including European coasts, the Caspian and Black Seas, Japanese coasts and North American shorelines from British Columbia to Florida. The IUCN rates it Least Concern, though populations have declined since the 1980s due to habitat degradation and environmental contaminants.