Tufted duck

Tufted duck
	Male / Female
Conservation status
	; Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Anseriformes
Family:	Anatidae
Genus:	Aythya
Species:	A. fuligula
Binomial name
	Aythya fuligula; (Linnaeus, 1758)
	Global range Year-Round Range Summer Range Winter Range
Synonyms
	Anas fuligula Linnaeus, 1758

The tufted duck (Aythya fuligula) is a small diving duck with a population of close to one million birds. The scientific name is derived from Ancient Greek aithuia an unidentified seabird mentioned by authors including Hesychius and Aristotle, and Latin, fuligo "soot" and gula "throat".^[2]

Description

The adult male is all black except for white flanks and a blue-grey bill with gold-yellow eyes, along with a thin crest on the back of its head. 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. The 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".

The only duck which is at all similar is the drake greater scaup which, however, has no tuft and a different call.

The tufted duck is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.

Distribution

The tufted duck breeds throughout temperate and northern Eurasia. It occasionally can be found as a winter visitor along both coasts of the United States and Canada. 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 mussels, a favourite food. These ducks are migratory in most of their range, and overwinter in the milder south and west of Europe, southern Asia and all year in most of the United Kingdom. They form large flocks on open water in winter.

Habitat

Their breeding habitat is close to marshes and lakes with plenty of vegetation to conceal the nest. They are also found on coastal lagoons, the seashore, and sheltered ponds.

Food

These birds feed mainly by diving, but they will sometimes upend from the surface.^[3] They eat molluscs, aquatic insects and some plants and sometimes feed at night.

Gallery

Adult male, Sikkim, India
Ducklings
Male juveniles, Farmoor Reservoir, Oxfordshire
Male, Farmoor Reservoir, Oxfordshire
Female, WWT London Wetland Centre
Eggs, Collection Museum Wiesbaden
flock of 2000 tufted ducks in Ystad port, 16 January 2016

References

^ Template:IUCN
^ Jobling, James A (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. pp. 64, 165. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
^ Ogilvie, Malcolm A. (1986). "Tufted Duck". In Lack, Peter (ed.). The Atlas of Wintering Birds in Britain and Ireland. London, UK: T & AD Poyser. p. 110. ISBN 978-1-4081-3828-1. Retrieved 12 August 2014.

External links

Tufted Ducks video from Gallery of Living Nature.
BirdLife species factsheet for Aythya fuligula
"Aythya fuligula". Avibase.
"Tufted duck media". Internet Bird Collection.
Tufted duck photo gallery at VIREO (Drexel University)
Interactive range map of Aythya fuligula at IUCN Red List maps
Audio recordings of Tufted duck on Xeno-canto.

[1] Template:IUCN

[job90-2] Jobling, James A (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. pp. 64, 165. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.

[Lack-3] Ogilvie, Malcolm A. (1986). "Tufted Duck". In Lack, Peter (ed.). The Atlas of Wintering Birds in Britain and Ireland. London, UK: T & AD Poyser. p. 110. ISBN 978-1-4081-3828-1. Retrieved 12 August 2014.

[1]

[2]

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