Note male's blackish head and tail, whitish body and blue bill. Breeding female gray-brown, usually with white around base of bill. Very similar to Greater Scaup.

Common on ponds, lakes, and bays. Nests in marshy vegetation in or near lakes and ponds.

Migratory. Widespread in North America. Its core nesting habitats are in boreal forests and parklands from central Alaska through Manitoba. It is a late fall migrant along the Gulf and Pacific Coasts.