Aythya fuligula, Tufted Duck

Common Name: Tufted Duck

Aythya fuligula, more commonly known as the Tufted Duck, is a medium-sized diving duck, the commonest in the UK.

The male (pictured above) is black on the head, neck, breast and back and white on the sides, and has a small crest and yellow eyes. The female is completely chocolate-brown in colour. In flight it shows an obvious white stripe across the back of the wing.

They nest in flooded gravel pits, lakes and reservoirs, and gather in large flocks in the winter, often mixed with Pochard and Coot. Numbers increase in the UK in winter because of birds moving to the UK from Iceland and northern Europe.

Tufted Ducks feed on waterweed, plant seeds and aquatic invertebrates.

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