Tufted Duck, Aythya fuligula |
![]() Male Tufted Ducks in London parks showing full breeding plumage, black back with pure white flanks and prominant tuft, above in December, below in May. The black back and the tuft differentiate the male of this species from the male Greater (worldwide) and Lesser Scaup (America only.) |
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![]() The female Tufted Duck has a small tuft, sometimes (as in the picture above) not visible at all. She also sometimes (as here) has a white patch behind the bill like that of female scaup, but smaller and less distinct, and her brown feathering is darker and richer in color than that of scaup females. |
![]() The bird shown above and below was a visitor to Lake Merritt in Oakland, California, where a single male Tufted Duck, possibly the same individual, has been reported for eleven consecutive winters, 2003-04 through 2013-14. Before that, single males were reported in 1976-79, 1987, 1991, 1994, and 1997-2001 at this location, one of the most reliable spots in North America to see vagrants of this Eurasian species. |
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