Greater scaup been described by Serebrovskij in 1941 from fossils recovered at Binagady, Azerbaijan. The greater scaup's name may come from "scalp", a Scottish and Northern English word for a shellfish bed, or from the duck's mating call: "scaup scaup". A phylogenetic analysis of the diving ducks, examining the skeletal anatomy and skin, found that the greater and lesser scaups are each other's closest relatives, with the tufted duck as the next closest relative of the pair. The adult greater scaup is long with a wingspan and a body mass of . It has a blue bill and yellow eyes and is
Prince Edward Point Bird Observatory include fringed gentian, viper's bugloss, butterfly weed, jewelweed, black-eyed susan and small yellow lady's slipper. Rare vascular plants found on Prince Edward Point include Ontario aster, downy wood mint and clammyweed. Prince Edward Point is a concentration point of bird migrations over the Great Lakes. Over 300 species of birds have been recorded at Prince Edward Point. Most of these birds are recorded in migration, however 74 species of bird have been recorded nesting on the point. The site experiences large quantity bird migration. Single-day totals of greater scaup, oldsquaw, and white-winged scoters have exceeded 1% of their total North