LC
Lesser Scaup Aythya affinis



Taxonomy

Taxonomic source(s)
AERC TAC. 2003. AERC TAC Checklist of bird taxa occurring in Western Palearctic region, 15th Draft. Available at: http://www.aerc.eu/DOCS/Bird_taxa_of_the_WP15.xls.
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A. and Fishpool, L.D.C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 1: Non-passerines. Lynx Edicions BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.
SACC. 2005 and updates. A classification of the bird species of South America. Available at: https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm.

IUCN Red List criteria met and history
Red List criteria met
Critically Endangered Endangered Vulnerable
- - -

Red List history
Year Category Criteria
2021 Least Concern
2016 Least Concern
2012 Least Concern
2009 Least Concern
2008 Least Concern
2004 Least Concern
2000 Lower Risk/Least Concern
1994 Lower Risk/Least Concern
1988 Lower Risk/Least Concern
Species attributes

Migratory status full migrant Forest dependency does not normally occur in forest
Land-mass type Average mass -
Range

Estimate Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident) 11,000,000 km2 medium
Extent of Occurrence (non-breeding) 19,100,000 km2 medium
Severely fragmented? no -
Population
Estimate Data quality Derivation Year of estimate
Population size 3700000 mature individuals poor estimated 2018
Population trend stable - inferred -
Generation length 5.5 years - - -

Population justification: The global population is estimated to number 3,700,000 mature individuals and is currently stable (Meehan et al. 2018, Pardieck et al. 2018, Partners in Flight 2020).

Trend justification: The species is considered to have undergone a historical decline (Partners in Flight 2020, Wetlands International 2020), but recent North American Breeding Bird Survey and Christmas Bird Count data appears to show that the species has been roughly stable in the short-term (Meehan et al. 2018, Pardieck et al. 2018). Therefore, the species is assessed here as being stable.


Country/territory distribution
Country/Territory Presence Origin Resident Breeding visitor Non-breeding visitor Passage migrant
Anguilla (to UK) extant native yes
Antigua and Barbuda extant vagrant
Aruba (to Netherlands) extant native yes
Bahamas extant native yes
Barbados extant native yes
Belize extant native yes
Bermuda (to UK) extant native yes
Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba (to Netherlands) extant native yes
Canada extant native yes yes yes yes
Cayman Islands (to UK) extant native yes
Colombia extant native yes
Costa Rica extant native yes
Cuba extant native yes
CuraƧao (to Netherlands) extant native yes
Denmark extant vagrant
Dominica extant native yes
Dominican Republic extant native yes
Ecuador extant native yes
El Salvador extant native yes
France extant vagrant
Greenland (to Denmark) extant vagrant
Guadeloupe (to France) extant native yes
Guatemala extant native yes
Haiti extant native yes
Honduras extant native yes
Ireland extant vagrant
Jamaica extant native yes
Japan extant vagrant
Martinique (to France) extant vagrant
Mexico extant native yes
Netherlands extant vagrant
Nicaragua extant native yes
Northern Mariana Islands (to USA) extant vagrant
Panama extant native yes
Portugal extant vagrant
Puerto Rico (to USA) extant native yes
Russia extant vagrant
Russia (Asian) extant vagrant
Sint Maarten (to Netherlands) extant native yes
Spain extant vagrant
St Barthelemy (to France) extant vagrant
St Kitts and Nevis extant vagrant
St Lucia extant native yes
St Martin (to France) extant native yes
St Pierre and Miquelon (to France) extant vagrant yes
St Vincent and the Grenadines extant native yes
Suriname extant native yes
Trinidad and Tobago extant native yes
Turks and Caicos Islands (to UK) extant native yes
United Kingdom extant vagrant
USA extant native yes yes yes yes
Venezuela extant native yes
Virgin Islands (to UK) extant native yes
Virgin Islands (to USA) extant native yes

Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBA)
Country/Territory IBA Name
Dominican Republic Cabral Lagoon
USA Lake Pontchartrain

Habitats & altitude
Habitat (level 1) Habitat (level 2) Importance Occurrence
Artificial/Aquatic & Marine Artificial/Aquatic - Water Storage Areas (over 8ha) suitable non-breeding
Marine Coastal/Supratidal Coastal Brackish/Saline Lagoons/Marine Lakes suitable non-breeding
Marine Coastal/Supratidal Coastal Freshwater Lakes suitable non-breeding
Marine Neritic Estuaries suitable non-breeding
Marine Neritic Macroalgal/Kelp suitable non-breeding
Marine Neritic Seagrass (Submerged) suitable non-breeding
Marine Neritic Subtidal Loose Rock/pebble/gravel suitable non-breeding
Marine Neritic Subtidal Rock and Rocky Reefs suitable non-breeding
Marine Neritic Subtidal Sandy suitable non-breeding
Marine Neritic Subtidal Sandy-Mud suitable non-breeding
Wetlands (inland) Permanent Freshwater Lakes (over 8ha) suitable non-breeding
Wetlands (inland) Permanent Rivers/Streams/Creeks (includes waterfalls) suitable breeding
Wetlands (inland) Permanent Saline, Brackish or Alkaline Lakes suitable breeding
Wetlands (inland) Seasonal/Intermittent Freshwater Lakes (over 8ha) suitable breeding
Wetlands (inland) Seasonal/Intermittent Saline, Brackish or Alkaline Lakes and Flats suitable breeding
Altitude   Occasional altitudinal limits  

Utilisation
Purpose Scale
Food - human subsistence, national
Pets/display animals, horticulture international

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Lesser Scaup Aythya affinis. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/lesser-scaup-aythya-affinis on 18/12/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 18/12/2024.