All species › Waterfowl › Ducks, geese and swans › Lesser Scaup
Lesser Scaup | Aythya affinis
Kleine topper | Porrón bola
The North American counterpart of the Greater Scaup, slightly smaller and with a more angular head. A very rare vagrant to the region: by 2017 seven records were known from Morocco, and in January 2022 a bird was seen in Algeria.
Voice
Almost silent on the wintering grounds; the female sometimes gives a harsh karr.
Recording: Stanislas Wroza — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · converted to mono · xeno-canto
Identification
About 42 cm, slightly smaller and slimmer than Greater Scaup, with a high, peaked rear crown and a smaller bill with a narrow black nail. The male has a black head with a purplish gloss, black breast and rear, a finely grey-vermiculated back and white flanks, often with a grey wash; the eye is yellow. The female is brown with a white blaze around the bill base, smaller than in Greater Scaup. In flight the white wingbar is confined to the secondaries; the primaries are grey.
Confusion species
Greater Scaup (Aythya marila) is larger, with a rounded head, a broader bill with a larger black nail, a green gloss on the male's head and a white wingbar that extends well into the primaries. Hybrids of Tufted Duck (Aythya fuligula) and Common Pochard (Aythya ferina) can mimic Lesser Scaup closely; check the bill pattern, head shape and wingbar. The male Ring-necked Duck (Aythya collaris) has a black back and a white bill ring.
Habitat
Fresh lakes and reservoirs, and in the normal wintering range also coastal bays and estuaries. Vagrants in the region have been on inland reservoirs, among Tufted Ducks and Common Pochards.
Where the bird is most at home, classified by the habitats of North Africa and the Middle East.
Range and movements
In the region a vagrant: a few records in Morocco on reservoirs and lakes, including the Mansour Eddahbi reservoir near Ouarzazate in March 2017, the seventh record for the country, and at least one in Western Sahara; in Algeria a bird was reported in January 2022. No records are known from the rest of the region. The species breeds in Alaska, Canada and the northern United States and winters from the United States to Central America and the Caribbean.
How and when to look
A chance in winter and early spring on Moroccan reservoirs, in flocks of Tufted Ducks. A possible Lesser Scaup should always be seen from behind and preferably in flight: the grey primaries, the small bill nail and the peak at the rear of the crown are decisive together, and hybrids must be ruled out.
Conservation status
Not threatened; the North American population is large, though it has declined since the 1980s. In the region a very rare vagrant, with about ten records from Morocco and Algeria combined.
Scientific name
Aythya affinis | (Eyton, 1838)
Eyton described the species in 1838 as Fuligula affinis; because it was later moved to another genus, the author and year stand in brackets. The genus Aythya was introduced in 1822 by Boie. Aythya is from Greek aithuia, an unidentified diving seabird mentioned by Aristotle and Hesychius. affinis is Latin for 'related to', after the close resemblance to the greater scaup. The specimen the first description was based on came from North America.