Dr. John S. Barclay and graduate research assistant Jonathan Cohen are the principal investigators and coordinators of the Long Island Sound Greater Scaup Study at University of Connecticut/Storrs. Jim Barton kindly supplied me with a few copies of their quarterly newsletter, Scaupnet, from which I excerpted the following:

"The Greater Scaup nests mainly in grasses and sedges along the margins of large lakes in the treeless coastal tundra of western Alaska and northern Canada. The greatest concentration of breeding scaup occurs in western Alaska. In the fall, around 60% of the Greater Scaup migrate southeast across North America to spend their winter on the east coast. Long island Sound historically has been home to the highest concentration of wintering scaup in North America."

"Banding data, hunting returns and population surveys have delineated the migration corridors used by Greater Scaup on their annual journey from Alaska to the east coast. It is thought that the long chain of lakes extending from northwest Canada to the Great lakes is the main Greater Scaup migrational highway. Unfortunately, it is unknown exactly which lakes are the most important, and also when they are used."

"Between 1955 and 1995, the five year average number of Greater Scaup wintering on Long island Sound declined 82%, from 40,000 to 7,600 birds. [Our] current scaup research…is aimed at discovering the reasons for this more or less steady decline."

"In addition to the decline of scaup wintering on Long Island Sound, the estimated breeding population of these ducks in Alaska has declined by at least 23% in the last 40 years. Much research remains to be done, but actions may be required soon to protect this important part of the Sound's natural heritage."

last updated: 11/20/1997
url: http://www.gis.net/~szendeh/tscaup.htm