(Click on picture to enlarge)
© 1998 Walter
Bauer, Sugar Land, Texas
Field
Marks: Male: Scaups on the water appear "black at both ends and
white in the middle." The flanks and back are finely barred, but at any
distance those parts appear white. The bill is blue; head glossed with dull
purple. The Female is brown, with a broad white wing stripe and white mask at
base of bill. The Scaups are the only common ducks possessing a broad white
stripe.
Voice: Male has a bold Scaup; also
purring noises.
Where found: Alaska, western Canada.
Winters south to north-south America.
Texas: Migrant throughout. Winters
(Sept - May) mainly along coast; locally inland, west to El Paso, north to North
Texas, but not panhandle. This one was with a flock of over twenty in Landa
Park, New Braunfels, Texas in November 1998.
Habitat: Ponds, lakes, rivers, bays, open water.