Order: Anseriformes

Family: Anatidae

 

Size:  up to 40-47 cm in length

 

Key Features:  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 species, although the white is never as extensive as in those ducks.

 

Voice:  females' call is a harsh, growling "karr", mostly given in flight. The males are mostly silent but they make whistles during courtship based on a simple "wit-oo".

 

Breeding: As with most species of ducks, drake tufted ducks play no part in the incubation of the eggs or the rearing of the young ducklings. The nest is constructed in thick cover, preferably on an island out of reach of many predators. As well as using available materials, the duck will line the nest with down from her own breast. Incubation begins once the clutch is complete, which for tufted ducks is usually between 8 and 11 eggs. After about 25 days, the eggs all hatch within a 24 hour period.

 

Diet:  includes crustaceans, small molluscs such as snails, and insect larvae.

 

Habitat: found on large lakes, flooded gravel pits and even city park lakes provided there are islands on which they can nest.

 

Habits: These ducks are migratory in most of their range, and winter in the milder south and west of Europe, southern Asia and all year in most of the United Kingdom. They will form large flocks on open water in winter; search for these prey items amongst submerged water weed, under stones and other sunken objects.

 

Conservation Status: Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

 

 

 

 

 

References:

Aythya fuligula. In WildScreen Arkive. Retrieved on 05th July, 2014 from http://www.arkive.org/tufted-duck/aythya-fuligula/

 

Ogilvie, Malcolm A. (1986). "Tufted Duck". In Lack, Peter. The Atlas of Wintering Birds in Britain and Ireland. London, UK: T & AD Poyser. p. 110. ISBN 978-1-4081-3828-1.

 

BirdLife International (2014) Species factsheet: Aythya fuligula. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 05th July, 2014.

 

Photo Courtesy (Top: Male, Bottom: Female)

Andreas Trepte, Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.5 via Wikimedia Commons