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The Tufted Duck (Aythya fuligula), called Vigg in Skåne, is a small diving duck with a population of close to one million birds. The scientific name is derived from Ancient Greek aithuia an unidentified seabird mentioned by authors including Hesychius and Aristotle, and Latin, fuligo "soot" and gula "throat".
Distribution
The tufted duck breeds throughout temperate and northern Eurasia. It occasionally can be found as a winter visitor along both coasts of the United States and Canada. It is believed to have expanded its traditional range with the increased availability of open water due to gravel extraction, and the spread of freshwater mussels, a favourite food.
These ducks are migratory in most of their range, and overwinter in the milder south and west of Europe, southern Asia and all year in most of the United Kingdom. They form large flocks on open water in winter.
Habitat
Their breeding habitat is close to marshes and lakes with plenty of vegetation to conceal the nest. They are also found on coastal lagoons, the seashore, and sheltered ponds.
Range map from www.oiseaux.net - Ornithological Portal Oiseaux.net
www.oiseaux.net is one of those MUST visit pages if you're in to bird watching. You can find just about everything there
Source: Self-Generated from eBird Basic Dataset 2015.
By Imagesincommons - Own work, CC0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=45017208
Description
The adult male is all black except for white flanks and a blue-grey bill with gold-yellow eyes, along with a thin crest on the back of its head. It has an obvious head tuft that gives the species its name. The adult female is brown with paler flanks, and is more easily confused with other diving ducks.
In particular, some have white around the bill base which resembles the scaup species, although the white is never as extensive as in those ducks. The females' call is a harsh, growling "karr", mostly given in flight. The males are mostly silent but they make whistles during courtship based on a simple "wit-oo".
The only duck which is at all similar is the drake greater scaup which, however, has no tuft and a different call.
The tufted duck is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.
Size:
47 cm
Wingspan:
67-73 cm
Weight:
550-900 g
Longevity:
15 Years
Distinctive Feature
The only swimming bird with a black “tuft” hanging on the neck.
Easily recognised from distance with the strong contrast between the black back and the white sides.
Female is brown and have a shorter “tuft” and sometimes a white band at the base of the bill
Male Tufted Duck and Female Tufted Duck
Kasai Rinkai Park, Tokyo - April 2019
Eggs, Collection Museum Wiesbaden
By Klaus Rassinger und Gerhard Cammerer, Museum Wiesbaden - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=38220348
Food
These birds feed mainly by diving, but they will sometimes upend from the surface. They eat molluscs, aquatic insects and some plants and sometimes feed at night.