Habitat Suitability Index Models: Lesser Scaup (Breeding).

The lesser scaup Aythya affinis is one of the most abundant ducks in North America, but information relating to its ecology is limited in comparison to that available for most other waterfowl Rogers 1964 Trauger 1971 Hines 1977. The lack of detailed data is due, in part, to the fact that the majority of the breeding range occurs in relatively inaccessible areas of Alaska and northwest Canada Rogers 1964 and, perhaps, to a perception that the species is highly abundant and does not face significant management problems A. D. Afton, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Bemidji letter dated January 30, 1986. The primary breeding range of the lesser scaup generally extends southeast from central Alaska to western Ontario and south to northern Wyoming and central Minnesota American Ornithologists Union 1983. The species will occasionally breed as far south as northeastern California, northeastern Colorado, central Nebraska, and northern Illinois. The lesser scaup has been characterized as particularly demanding of specific environmental characteristics and as the least adaptable waterfowl species in relation to changes in reproductive habitat conditions Smith 1971.