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Tufted Duck
Aythya fuligula
Identify the Tufted Duck by sound or photo and log your sightings with Birdpass.
The Tufted Duck is a small, compact diving duck widespread across northern Eurasia, instantly recognised by the male's drooping head tuft. Males are black with crisp white flanks, while females are chocolate-brown with paler sides; both have bright yellow eyes. Partly migratory, it gathers in large flocks on open water in winter, and it has increased and spread in Europe over the past century.
Did you know?
- Its scientific name means roughly “sooty-throated seabird”.
- Ducklings begin diving very soon after hatching.
Voice
About the species
Identification
The male is a black diving duck with white flanks, a clear tuft on the back of the head, blue-grey bill with an extensive black tip and yellow eye; the upperwing has a broad white stripe, and the underwing is white. The female is brown, paler on the flanks, with a small tuft and sometimes a pale area at the bill base. Compared with Greater Scaup, the black area at the bill tip is larger (not just the nail), and the white underwing separates it from Common Goldeneye.
Family
Anatidae
Size
Large (crow)
Colours
black, white, yellow
About the habitat
Lakes, ponds, reservoirs and coastal archipelagos with open water and nearby vegetation; outside the breeding season also sheltered coastal bays, estuaries and ice-free sea areas.
Diet
Mainly molluscs such as mussels and snails, and aquatic insects and their larvae, as well as small crustaceans and some seeds and plant material, taken by diving.
Behaviour
Forages underwater in short, repeated dives, often in tight rafts, and sometimes feeds at night. It can become tame on urban lakes. Generally quiet; the female gives a harsh, growling “karr”. The female nests near water, often on islands among gull or tern colonies; the downy young leave the nest soon after hatching and begin diving almost at once.
Sources
Photo: Alexis Lours, CC BY 4.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tufted Duck 09 05 2025 02.jpg
Sound: Sonothèque ADVL, XC1107805, CC0 1.0 https://xeno-canto.org/1107805
Text: Wikipedia (English) + FinBIF species descriptions, CC BY-SA 4.0; FinBIF: CC BY 4.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tufted_duck
