One female may lay up to eleven eggs, but the nest may contain up to twenty-six eggs, including those from other females. Incubation lasts only three weeks, and the young immediately head to the water after hatching. Fun Fact: An adult Lesser Scaup may pretend to be dead when in the jaws of a predator like the Red Fox. 15. Greater Scaup

Scientific Name: Alpochen Aegyptiaca Conservation Status: Introduced Population: 1,100 breeding pairs Females are gray with a white collar and a dark brown head and wings with large square white patches. Females are brown with grayish-brown heads and white around their dark eyes. They have blue patches called speculum on their wings. The female is brown with dark streaks and brown ‘V’ shapes on the flanks. The tail is white, and the wings have the blue and white patches like the male. The head is grey with fine stripes, and the bill is brown with orange or yellow marks.Common Mergansers breed in Canada and migrate to the US. Some remain all year in northeastern and northwestern US states. Summer is also a time when young birds are beginning to make their own way in the world and many won’t yet have reached a recognisable plumage. Some look similar to females. The greater snow goose is a slightly larger version of the white-phase lesser snow goose. No color dimorphism has been discovered in this race. In the field it is virtually impossible to tell these two apart. In the hand, the larger size and longer bill of the greater snow goose distinguish it from its smaller counterpart. The sexes are similar in appearance, but the female is often smaller. Males have a white body with a dark green head, whereas females have a gray body with a cinnamon-colored head. Birds use annual paths called flyways to migrate. However, scientists are not positive about how birds navigate their flyways.

Compared to common scoter, velvet scoter are heavily built with a chunky, wedge-shaped bill along with usually having white in the wing. Adult males have more yellow on the lower bill and white under the eye. These smart birds breed on the Russian tundra, across Scandinavia and along the coasts of the Baltic sea. In the UK, they're seen on the sea during winter. Britain is a major wintering area for wildfowl, attracting birds from Greenland in the west to Siberia in the east.You may also like: Meet the 23 Different Types of Foxes and Where to Find Them: Description, Images, and More! Navigation during Migration

Males have a crest of long iridescent feathers and their chests are a bold chestnut color. The colorfulness does not end there – they also have bright red eyes. However, non-breeding males have the same distinct pattern and coloring as breeding males with respect to their heads. Lesser Scaups breed in northwestern US states, western Canada, and Alaska before migrating to southern US states, Mexico, and the east and west US coasts. They can be seen during migration across the rest of the US and Canada.The most notable part of the Common Merganser’s appearance is their ruby-red serrated bill. They use this to catch and hold onto fish. Distribution: Present in almost all coastal areas in the UK year-round, as well as some inland waters such as reservoirs. The Hooded Merganser is the second smallest species of Merganser and the only Merganser that lives entirely in North America.

These expert divers excel at catching fish. They have an extra eyelid that helps to keep water out of their eye while swimming. This is important as they use their sight to hunt.Males have a distinct, vulture-like appearance due to the large number of red warts on their face. They have brown and white feathers with iridescent green hues on their wing feathers. Nests of Blue-winged Teals are often found in a hollow in the ground, sheltered behind tall grasses and near a water source. They are built from grass and weeds and lined with down.