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Greater or Lesser Scaup? (1 Viewer)

B

birdher

Petty User
Can someone tell me if these are Greater or Lesser Scaup?
 

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Both Lesser and Greater Scaup have the black nail.

I'd go with Greater as well as they look larger chunkier birds (larger than a Tufted Duck). I've only seen a few Lesser and they've always looked quite small and sleek (smaller than a Tufted Duck) in comparison to Greater.
 
coal tit said:
Hi chris did you see the greater scaup that had been found ok in a field in Ontario on last nights posts the bird had a black back and wings with white speculums it looked different to these birds.
Click to expand...

It was a female. Only the males have pale, vermiculated backs.
 
Annabeth2 said:
Thanks for this link...it helps quite a bit. I didn't know
the Greater has green iridescent head vs purple for the Lesser.
I saw Scaups today at perhaps the very same location in NJ and
assumed they were Lesser since it's a fresh water reservoir.
Now I know what to look for to tell the difference.
Click to expand...

Can get some odd lessers though.
Like http://tgreybirds.com/LesserScaupM.jpg

But if you use that link I provided, the other two mentioned features show fine.
 
Annabeth2 said:
Thanks for this link...it helps quite a bit. I didn't know
the Greater has green iridescent head vs purple for the Lesser.
I saw Scaups today at perhaps the very same location in NJ and
assumed they were Lesser since it's a fresh water reservoir.
Now I know what to look for to tell the difference.
Click to expand...

Annabeth, I saw these at Round Valley. There were both Lesser and Greater there. I have trouble identifying the difference.
 
birdher said:
Annabeth, I saw these at Round Valley. There were both Lesser and Greater there. I have trouble identifying the difference.
Click to expand...

Yeah I was at Round Valley as well. It's a tough one to ID and I
only have an 8x binocular, so I didn't get a real close up.
However, I did get lucky and see the Red-Necked Grebe up
close near the shoreline. I chatted with a nice woman who had
a scope and got to look through it and see a Loon way out there.
It was a real nice day at the reservoir today. I'm gonna try and go back
either tomorrow or Monday (have off from work) if time permits.
There's just not enough time during the weekend to do all the things I want.
 
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