that a bird banded in Alaska reached a minimum age of 18 years, 4 months (Clapp 

 et al . in press). Greater Scaup in the Old World have attained an age of at 

 least 13 years in the wild (Rydzewski 1978). 



Weight Bellrose (1976) listed the average weight of 177 adult males as 

 1.82 lb (826 g) and that of 44 adult females as 1.65 lb (748 g) . Immature males 

 (n = 190) and immature females (n = 124) averaged 1.71 lb (776 g) and 1.62 lb 

 (735 g) , respectively. 



SUSCEPTIBILITY TO OIL POLLUTION 



The Greater Scaup is a known victim of oiling at sea. Bourne (1972) re- 

 ported casualties due to a very small oil slick in the Firth of Forth at Sea- 

 field, Scotland, and noted the extreme vulnerability of species (such as the 

 scaup) that concentrate along coasts for foraging. Joensen (1972b) reiterated 

 this point, noting that Greater Scaup in Danish waters were very vulnerable to 

 oiling because large proportions of their wintering populations were often con- 

 centrated in very small areas. Greater Scaup were listed among oiled species 

 in a spill in San Francisco Bay in 1973 (Holmes and Cronshaw 1977). Some 1,500 

 scaup (including Greater Scaup) died following seven spills in the Delaware 

 River and Chesapeake Bay, 1973-1978 (Perry et al. 1979). Other reports of oil- 

 ing deaths are summarized in Table 5. 



The Greater Scaup is clearly a species that may be seriously affected by 

 oil pollution. However, the proportion of wintering Greater Scaup that utilize 

 the coastal waters of the southeast is relatively small, reducing the chance of 

 major population effects if oiling were to occur in that area. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 



1978 



Campbell, L. H. 1978. Patterns of distribution and behaviour of flocks of sea- 

 ducks wintering at Leith and Musselburgh, Scotland. Biol. Conserv. 14: 



111-124. 



1977 



Montalbano, F. , III. 1977. A Florida breeding record for the Greater Scaup. 

 Fla. Field Nat. 5: 42-43. 



1974 



Peterson, S. R. and R. S. Ellarson. 1974. Successful breeding record for Great- 

 er Scaup at Rankin Inlet, Northwest Territories, Canada. Musk-Ox No. 14: 

 62. 



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