Colophon
The animal on the cover of gRPC: Up and Running is the greater American scaup (Aythya marila). This duck species breeds in spring and summer in the circumpolar tundra environments of Alaska, Canada, and Europe, then migrates south to winter off the coasts of North America, Europe, and Asia.
Males have yellow eyes, a bright blue bill, an iridescent black head with a distinctly dark green cast, white sides, and finely patterned grey and white feathers on their backs. Females are subtly colored to protect them while nesting, with a pale blue beak and small white face patch, and a brown head and body. These ducks average about 20 inches long with a 30-inch wingspan, and on average weigh two pounds.
Greater American scaups form pairs in spring, and the female lays on average eight eggs in a ground nest lined with down pulled from her own body. The ducklings leave the nest immediately after hatching, and are able to feed themselves from birth. As they take more than forty days to fledge, and though the young birds are protected by their mother, at this time they are vulnerable to birds of prey and terrestrial predators such as foxes.
Scaups are part of a group known as diving ducks; though they do feed on land or at the water’s surface, they also dive underwater to feed. Like other diving ducks, scaups have legs set further back on their compact bodies to help propel themselves underwater. Their physiology is also adapted so that they use less oxygen during their dives. The greater American scaup can dive to a depth of up to 20 feet, and can hold their breath for about a minute, enabling them to forage at greater depths than some other diving ducks.
Though populations have been declining for the last forty years, these ducks are currently noted as being of “Least Concern” by the IUCN Red List. Many of the animals on O’Reilly covers are endangered; all of them are important to the world.
The color illustration on the cover is by Karen Montgomery, based on a black and white engraving from British Birds. The cover fonts are Gilroy Semibold and Guardian Sans. The text font is Adobe Minion Pro; the heading font is Adobe Myriad Condensed; and the code font is Dalton Maag’s Ubuntu Mono.