Comparison of Greater and Lesser Scaup

Help with a challenging identification is here!  These remarkable pictures by Brian Currie offer a side-by-side comparison of  a male Lesser and a male Greater Scaup.

Note the rounder head of the Greater Scaup with the peak of the head being farther forward.  The color of the head is greener in the Greater and more purple in the Lesser, although this is not a difference that can be relied upon.  The sides and back of the greater are lighter and there's a larger black nail on the tip of the bill (not easy to see).  The Lesser Scaup has a narrower, taller head and, as the name indicates, is smaller in size averaging 16.5 inches in length as opposed to 18 inches for the Greater Scaup.

Photos by Brian Currie
  

Lower left: Lesser Scaup  Aythya affinis        Upper right:  Greater Scaup  Aythya marila
  
Mayor's Pond,  Brigham City, Utah
17 Jan 2004
by Brian Currie  ©Brian L. Currie
  

Lower left: Lesser Scaup  Aythya affinis        Upper right:  Greater Scaup  Aythya marila
  
Mayor's Pond,  Brigham City, Utah
17 Jan 2004
by Brian Currie  ©Brian L. Currie
  

  
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 ID Challenge  for photos taken by Ryan O'Donnell.

  

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