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Tufted Duck
(Aythya fuligula)
 German name(s): "Reiherente"
Size: 40-47 cm; wing span 65-72 cm
Weight: 350-1000 g
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Physical description |
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 Click here for a physical description
Tufted Ducks are small diving ducks.
Their plumage
is dimorphic,
i.e. males
and females
are different.
In addition, males
have different
breeding and
eclipse
plumages.
Male
Tufted Ducks in breeding
plumage
are all black-and-white, with a black head, with nuchal
plume, neck, chest and back. The belly and flanks are white.
The upperwings are black, with white flight feathers that have
a broad black terminal band on both upperwing and underwing.
The underwings are otherwise white.
In eclipse
the parts that are white turn greyish with some vermiculation
and the parts that are black lose their gloss. The nuchal plume
is much reduced in eclipse, but still present.
Females
have a much more inconspicuous
plumage.
They are basically entirely dark greyish-brown, with head,
chest and back a darker shade of greyish-brown than the
flanks and wing coverts. During the breeding season
female
Tufted Ducks show some white around the base of the bill.
In eclipse this white around the base of the bill tends to
vanish.
The irises of both sexes are golden-yellow. The bill is grey,
with a broad black tip and a hint of a light-grey band just
above the tip. The legs and feet are grey.
Juveniles
are duller brown than adult
females,
possibly with a hint of a nuchal plume.
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Taxonomy, classification |
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See Tufted
Duck at Wikipedia  .
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Range, habitat, finding this species |
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Click here for information on habitat
and range
The overall distribution of this species can be assessed based
on sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to the
ebird.org
website.
The global distribution of the Tufted Duck is available
HERE
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Tufted Ducks are a partly migratory Eurasian species.
Part of the population, usually in temperate climate zones, is
sedentary, while a large number of Tufted Ducks is migratory,
spending the breeding season in subpolar, even polar, regions,
while wintering in temperate to subtropical areas of both
Europe and Asia.
Their core range spans the entire breadth of Europe and Asia, from
Iberia, Ireland and Iceland in the West, to far-eastern Asia
(Korea, Japan, far eastern Siberia, Kamchatka) in the East.
They are rarely seen in the Asian tropics, such as the southern
half of the Indian continents and much of far South-east Asia.
But Tufted Ducks do reach both North American coastlines - the
East coast via the North Atlantic, the West coast by crossing the
Bering Sea via the Aleute islands.
In Europe Tufted Ducks are found as permanent residents basically
only in central Europe (northward of the Alps, from the river Rhine
eastwards to the Baltic states and as far northwards as Denmark and
the southern Scandinavian coastline) and in western Europe (the
Benelux countries, large parts of the British Isles and associated
smaller islands). There is a small permanent population in the
flatlands of the Po river in northern Italy.
The migratory part of the population extends its breeding range
during the summer months into almost all of Scandinavia (except
the highest mountain regions), Spitsbergen and into north-eastern
Europe, up to about the Arctic circle.
The migratory population from the British Isles breeds in Iceland.
Except for some select wetlands, Tufted Ducks are found only as
winter visitors in most of France and all around the Mediterranean
coastline. Also in the Danube valley and around the Black Sea they
stay only during winter. They are NOT in much of northern Spain,
the highest parts of the Alps and in the High Tatras.
In other areas (large parts of south-eastern Europe and the
southern half of Iberia), Tufted Ducks are found only during
migration.
Being diving ducks, Tufted Ducks have a preference for wetlands
with water that is not too shallow, allowing them to dive for
food/prey, but otherwise are very versatile in their choice
of habitat. They are found around both open lakes and more
well-vegetated wetlands, around standing water, even in small
puddles, but also slow-flowing rivers/creeks and in coastal wetlands.
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Sightings |
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Click here for sighting information
D. Wilczynska reports Tufted Ducks in wetlands along the
river Bug, near Brok, Masovia, Poland, in April 2017.
M. Eaton reports finding Tufted Ducks
at Skjervoy, near Tromso, Norway, in June 2018.
H. Dahlem-Senger found a Tufted Duck on the river Rhine, near
Eltville, Hessen, Germany, in April 2019.
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Photos |
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ADULT |
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MALE |
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BREEDING |
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Lateral view of a male Tufted Duck in breeding
plumage
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Skjervoy, near Tromso, Norway, June 2018]
Lateral view of two male Tufted Ducks in breeding
plumage
(photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[River Bug, near Brok, Masovia, Poland, April 2017]
Lateral view of a male Tufted Duck in breeding
plumage
(photo courtesy of H. Dahlem-Senger)
[River Rhine, between Walluf and Schierstein, Hessen, Germany, April 2019]
Near-dorsal view of a male Tufted Duck in breeding
plumage
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Skjervoy, near Tromso, Norway, June 2018]
Lateral view of a male Tufted Duck in breeding
plumage
(note the long nuchal plume) with two females
(photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[River Bug, near Brok, Masovia, Poland, April 2017]
Three male Tufted Ducks in breeding
plumage
with one female (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[River Bug, near Brok, Masovia, Poland, April 2017]
Male Tufted Ducks in breeding
plumage
with females (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[River Bug, near Brok, Masovia, Poland, April 2017]
Male Tufted Ducks in breeding
plumage
with females (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[River Bug, near Brok, Masovia, Poland, April 2017]
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FEMALE |
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Frontal view of a pair of Tufted Ducks - female on the right,
male in breeding plumage
on the left; note the hint of white around the base of the female's
bill (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[River Bug, near Brok, Masovia, Poland, April 2017]
Female Tufted Duck, left, with two males in
plumage
(photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[River Bug, near Brok, Masovia, Poland, April 2017]
Female Tufted Duck, left, with two males in breeding
plumage
(photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[River Bug, near Brok, Masovia, Poland, April 2017]
Dorsal view of a pair of Tufted Ducks; male in breeding
plumage
with female, right, with kelp on its back
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Skjervoy, near Tromso, Norway, June 2018]
These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our
contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species
please refer to a field guide.
Breeding
Nest
Eggs
Behaviour
Food
Call/s
