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The Tufted Duck, Aythya fuligula, is a medium-sized diving duck
Diving duck

The 15 or so living species of diving duck, commonly called pochards or scaups, are part of the diverse and very large duck, goose, and swan family, Anatidae....
 with a population of close to one million birds.

adult male is all black except for white flanks and a blue-grey bill. It has an obvious head tuft that gives the species its name. The adult female is brown with paler flanks, and is more easily confused with other diving ducks. In particular, some have white around the bill base which resembles the scaup
Scaup

Scaup may refer to:* Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party, a political party in Scotland* One of three species of diving duck:** Greater Scaup or just Scaup, Aythya marila...
 species, although the white is never as extensive as in those duck
Duck

Duck is the common name for a number of species in the Anatidae family of birds. The ducks are divided between several subfamilies listed in full in the Anatidae article; they do not represent a clade but a form taxon, being the Anatidae not considered swans and goose....
s.

The only duck which is at all similar is the drake North America
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
n Ring-necked Duck
Ring-necked Duck

The Ring-necked Duck is a smaller diving duck from North America.The adult male is similar in color pattern to the Eurasian Tufted Duck, its relative....
, which however has a different head shape, no tuft and greyish flanks.

The Tufted Duck is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA
AEWA

The Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds is the largest of its kind developed so far under the Bonn Convention....
) applies.

Tufted Duck breeds widely throughout temperate and northern Eurasia
Eurasia

Eurasia is a large landmass covering about 53,990,000 km? or about 10.6% of the Earth's surface . Often considered a single continent, Eurasia comprises the traditional continents of Europe and Asia, concepts which date back to classical antiquity and the borders for which are somewhat arbitrary....
.






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The Tufted Duck, Aythya fuligula, is a medium-sized diving duck
Diving duck

The 15 or so living species of diving duck, commonly called pochards or scaups, are part of the diverse and very large duck, goose, and swan family, Anatidae....
 with a population of close to one million birds.

Description

The adult male is all black except for white flanks and a blue-grey bill. It has an obvious head tuft that gives the species its name. The adult female is brown with paler flanks, and is more easily confused with other diving ducks. In particular, some have white around the bill base which resembles the scaup
Scaup

Scaup may refer to:* Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party, a political party in Scotland* One of three species of diving duck:** Greater Scaup or just Scaup, Aythya marila...
 species, although the white is never as extensive as in those duck
Duck

Duck is the common name for a number of species in the Anatidae family of birds. The ducks are divided between several subfamilies listed in full in the Anatidae article; they do not represent a clade but a form taxon, being the Anatidae not considered swans and goose....
s.

The only duck which is at all similar is the drake North America
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
n Ring-necked Duck
Ring-necked Duck

The Ring-necked Duck is a smaller diving duck from North America.The adult male is similar in color pattern to the Eurasian Tufted Duck, its relative....
, which however has a different head shape, no tuft and greyish flanks.

The Tufted Duck is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA
AEWA

The Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds is the largest of its kind developed so far under the Bonn Convention....
) applies.

Distribution

The Tufted Duck breeds widely throughout temperate and northern Eurasia
Eurasia

Eurasia is a large landmass covering about 53,990,000 km? or about 10.6% of the Earth's surface . Often considered a single continent, Eurasia comprises the traditional continents of Europe and Asia, concepts which date back to classical antiquity and the borders for which are somewhat arbitrary....
. It occasionally can be found as a winter visitor along both coasts of the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 and Canada
Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
. It is believed to have expanded its traditional range with the increased availability of open water due to gravel extraction, and the spread of freshwater mussel
Mussel

The common name mussel is used for members of several different families of clams or bivalve molluscs, from both saltwater and freshwater habitats....
s, a favourite food. These ducks are migratory
Bird migration

Bird migration refers to the regular seasonal journeys undertaken by many species of birds. Bird movements include those made in response to changes in food availability, habitat or weather....
 in most of their range, and winter in the milder south and west of Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
, southern Asia
Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent. It covers 8.6% of the Earth's total surface area and, with over 4 billion people, it contains more than 60% of the world's current human population....
 and all year in most of the United Kingdom
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
. They will form large flocks on open water in winter.

Habitat

Their breeding habitat is close to marsh
Marsh

In geography, a marsh, or morass, is a type of wetland which is subject to frequent or continuous flood . Typically the water is shallow and features Poaceaees, Juncaceaees, Phragmites, typhas, Cyperaless, and other herbaceous plants....
es and lakes with plenty of vegetation to conceal the nest. They are also found on coastal lagoons, the seashore
Seashore

Seashore can be any of the following:* Coast* Seashore - an open source image editor, based on GIMP written in Cocoa for Mac OS X* for the psychologist, see Carl Seashore...
, and sheltered ponds.

Food

These birds feed mainly by diving, but they will dabble. They eat molluscs, aquatic insect
Insect

Insects are the biggest class of arthropods and the only ones with wings. They are the most diverse group of animals on the planet. They are most diverse at the equator and their diversity declines toward the poles....
s and some plants and sometimes feed at night.

External links

  • From Gallery of Living Nature.