Tufted Duck Identification
Its scientific name is 'Aythya fuligula', from the family Anatidae (order Anseriformes)
What I look like
The Tufted Duck is fairly small, about the size of the Common Pochard.
It has a short and stocky body. The neck is slender with a proportionately large head featuring a tuft.
The bill is short and broad with a gray-blue color and a black tip.
The eyes are yellow.
In flight, a large white wing bar is noticeable.
In breeding plumage, the male is black with white flanks. His head is black with a long drooping tuft.
The female has brown plumage, darker on the upper parts, and the flanks are lighter, sometimes spotted. Her tuft is shorter.
The male in eclipse has breeding plumage that becomes dark brown almost black with the flanks lighter and duller.
The juvenile resembles the female but is a bit lighter and has a developing tuft. Its eyes are brown and the bill is gray.
My songs, my calls
The Tufted Duck makes calls in flight that resemble those of corvids with series of "kree" sounds.
The male during courtship emits gurgling and muffled whistles on a descending and accelerating tone "vip-vi-vivuvup".
Females make typical grunts of tufted ducks but shorter, more repeated, and quicker than those of the Common Pochard. "krr krr"
How I behave
The Tufted Duck is often in groups, especially in winter.
It is a diving duck that can dive up to 7 meters deep.
How I reproduce
The Tufted Duck pairs up at the end of winter before or after migration to the breeding grounds.
During courtship displays, adults in groups perform head movements and preening.
There is only one late clutch of 8 to 11 eggs per year, which takes place in May.
The nest is a platform made of grass and reeds, often lined with down, near the water, on the ground, hidden in vegetation.
The ducklings have dark down.
What I eat
The Tufted Duck finds its food in depth thanks to its broad webbed feet.
It feeds on plants, but also on mollusks, insects, freshwater mussels, crustaceans…
Where to find me
The Tufted Duck lives in various wetland habitats with moderate depth: lakes and ponds in forests or plains with abundant vegetation.
In winter, it is also found near coasts, in estuaries and lagoons.
Northern populations of Europe are migratory. They winter in Western and Southern Europe around the Mediterranean.
There are sedentary populations in Western Europe.
The Tufted Duck can live for about fifteen years.