The Lesser Scaup - Aythya affinis

The Lesser Scaup is a gorgeous bird quite distinctive especially with its’ bluish bill.  Sometimes birds are, for me, difficult to identify and I have found that having several different bird books is really helpful. 

Ducks are among the best known of what biologists call ‘precocial birds’.  That is they come from the egg with eyes wide open, covered with a suit of natal down for insulation and ready for action, such as leaping from a high wooded nest at one day old and then following the mother to the water and as young as three days are diving and catching minnows– as opposed to ‘altricial birds’ which hatch naked, blind and helpless and are supported in nest for days by the parents.