MDI Birds
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    Greater Scaup / Aythya marila

    : and late Oct-early Apr in the . along the and on fresh water.

    Miscellany: Most Greater Scaup breed in western Alaska and migrate across North America to winter in shallow bays along the northeast Atlantic Coast. Until the mid 1970s, there were some years when flocks of 1000+ Greater Scaup wintered in the vicinity of the Bar Harbor Bar and in the Mount Desert Narrows but they've declined noticeably since then. In the last 10 years, the species has been recorded on only three MDI CBCs The reasons for the decline are not clear but one contributing factor could be the introduction of Zebra mussels into the Great Lakes in the late 1980s; more birds may now be overwintering there given the abundant food source and the fact that the southern Great Lakes no longer routinely freeze over.

    Last Updated: April 26th, 2022

    Locations

    1. 1. Mount Desert Narrows 44.426120, -68.365795