The Latin name for the Tufted Duck is Aythya fuligula and they belong to the Anatidae family of swans, ducks and geese.

Description

The Tufted Duck is a medium sized diving duck, which is smaller than the mallard. They weigh about 750g, their length is 44 cm and their wingspan is 70cm.

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The male Tufted Duck is distinctively all black except for his white flanks, yellow eyes and grey beak. The female is mostly chocolate-brown with a slightly paler area on the flank, similar to in shape to the same area on the male. She has the beginnings of a tuft at the back of the head and has a few whitish grey feathers around the beak. She also has golden yellow irises. In flight, Tufted Ducks have very dark wings with a broad white bar across the flight feathers.

The Tufted duck is usually quiet except during the breeding season when the male’s call is a low soft repeated whistle, while the female has a harsh “kurr kurr”.

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Distribution

The breeding range of the Tufted duck is very large. It covers much of Northern Europe and Asia and as far south as India during the winter. This duck breeds in the UK, in the lowland areas of England, Scotland and Ireland but they are less common in Wales. Most of the birds are residents and remain fairly sedentary although some do migrate. The increase in number in the UK during the winter is due to birds returning from Iceland and northern Europe. Some birds winter in sub-Saharan Africa, around the Black and Caspian Seas and eastwards through the Indian subcontinent to southern China and Japan.

Habitat

The Tufted Duck is a freshwater or coastal bird, it prefers medium or large size reed beds with good cover. In winter, the Tufted duck will visit lakes and ponds in parks but it is rarely seen at sea unless there is a hard frost. They like marshes, reservoirs, gravel pits, ponds and lakes and, during migration, rivers and estuaries.

Behaviour

Tufted ducks dive well and deep under water, to about 14m, to search for their food in the mud and stones on the lake bed. In the winter, they are highly gregarious and gather together in large flocks. They feed by diving, with 80% of their diet being animal material, especially the exotic Zebra Mussel but they also feed on seeds and the green parts of aquatic plants, aquatic insects and crustaceans. The Tufted duck may bring large fish or vegetable matter to the surface to eat. Anything floating on the surface, such as insect and duckweed, are scooped up.

The rapid expansion of the Tufted Duck in Britain during the late 19th/early 20th century is probably due to the colonisation of Britain by Zebra Mussels (brought into London docks in the 1820s).

Breeding

The Tufted Duck nests on small islands or near the water’s edge, with several pairs nesting close together. They like predator free islands which they share with gulls and terns. Terns are aggressive and they may help to keep predators away from the Tufted ducks’ nests. They make their nests from grass or sedge and line them with down. The female lays 8-11 greenish-buff coloured eggs, which take 25-26 days to hatch. The males are attentive while the females build the nest and lay the eggs and share the protection of the brood but not the incubation. Whilst the ducks are incubating, the drakes collect together in groups on the open water. Fledging takes 45-50 days.