| Tufted Duck (Aythya fuligula) | ||||
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Tufted Ducks are divers and can dive to a depth of 14 metres in search of its wide variety of animal and
vegetable food.
The male has a distinctive black and white pattern for most of the year. In certain lights it is possible to see the metallic purple sheen on the head which sets off his yellow eye. He has a tuft at the back of the head which is longer during the breeding season. |
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The female is generally brown with paler flanks and a yellow eye. Some females, such as the one in the third
photo, show white at the base of the bill. This could cause confusion with female Scaup (Aythya marila) but look for some vestige of a tuft,
the unevenly round head and the large black tip to the bill.
Tufted Ducks are partly migratory. Populations in southern Britain are normally sedentary but these in Scotland may be wintering birds from Iceland or Russia and the Baltic states. |
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