tufted duck

The tufted duck was formally described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Anas fuligula.{{cite book | last=Linnaeus | first=Carl | author-link=Carl Linnaeus | year=1758 | title= Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis | volume=1 | edition=10th | page=128 | publisher=Laurentii Salvii | location=Holmiae (Stockholm) | language=Latin | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/727033 }} He cited the Swiss naturalist Conrad Gessner who in 1555 had used the identical name Anas fuligula in his Historiae animalium.{{cite book| last=Gesner | first=Conrad | author-link=Conrad Gessner | title=Historiae animalium liber III qui est de auium natura. Adiecti sunt ab initio indices alphabetici decem super nominibus auium in totidem linguis diuersis: & ante illos enumeratio auium eo ordiné quo in hoc volumine continentur | year=1555 | publisher= Froschauer | location=Zurich | language=Latin | page=116 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/52660998 }} Linnaeus specified the type locality as Europe but in 1761 restricted it to Sweden.{{cite book | last=Linnaeus | first=Carl | author-link=Carl Linnaeus | year=1761 | title=Fauna svecica, sistens animalia sveciae regni mammalia, aves amphibia, pisces, insecta, vermes | edition=2nd | location=Stockholmiae | publisher=Sumtu & Literis Direct. Laurentii Salvii | language=Latin | page=47 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/32170516 }}{{ cite book | editor1-last=Mayr | editor1-first=Ernst | editor1-link=Ernst Mayr | editor2-last=Cottrell | editor2-first=G. William | year=1979 | title=Check-List of Birds of the World | volume=1 | edition=2nd | publisher=Museum of Comparative Zoology | place=Cambridge, Massachusetts | page=486 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/16109126 }} The tufted duck is now one of 12 species placed in the genus Aythya that was introduced in 1822 by the German naturalist Friedrich Boie.{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela C. Rasmussen | date=December 2023 | title=Screamers, ducks, geese & swans | work=IOC World Bird List Version 14.1 | url=http://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/waterfowl/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=1 July 2024 }} The genus name is from Ancient Greek aithuia, an unidentified seabird mentioned by Aristotle, Hesychius and other authors. The specific epithet fuligula combines Latin meaning "soot" and gula meaning "throat".{{cite book | last=Jobling | first=James A. | year=2010| title=The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | publisher=Christopher Helm | location=London | isbn=978-1-4081-2501-4 | pages=[https://archive.org/stream/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling#page/n64/mode/1up 64], [https://archive.org/stream/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling#page/n165/mode/1up 165]}} The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised. An alternative common name is "tufted pochard".{{ cite book | last=Carboneras | first=Carles | year=1992 | chapter=Family Anatidae (Ducks, Geese and Swans) | editor1-last=del Hoyo | editor1-first=J. | editor2-last=Elliott | editor2-first=A. | editor3-last=Sargatal | editor3-first=J. | title=Handbook of the Birds of the World | volume=1: Ostrich to Ducks | location=Barcelona, Spain | publisher=Lynx Edicions | isbn=84-87334-10-5 | pages=536–628 [618] | chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/handbookofbirdso0001unse/page/618/mode/1up | chapter-url-access=registration }}

The adult male is all black except for white flanks and a blue-grey bill with golden yellow eyes, along with a thin crest on the back of the head. It has a prominent tuft on its head, which gives the species its name. The adult female is brown with lighter flanks, and is more easily confused with other diving ducks. In particular, some have white around the base of the bill, resembling the scaup species, although the white is never as extensive as that of those ducks. The female's call is a harsh, growling "karr", usually given in flight. Males are mostly silent but will whistle during courtship, based on a simple "wit-oo".

The only ducks that are similar are the greater scaup and lesser scaup, but these species lack the tuft and emit 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.{{ cite web | title=Official language versions of the Agreement Text and its Annexes as amended by the 8th Session of the Meeting of the Parties (MOP8) | url=https://www.unep-aewa.org/en/documents/agreement-text | publisher=Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) | access-date=1 July 2024 }}

Refer to the following table for measurements of the tufted duck:{{Cite web|last1=Azzi|first1=MayaV|last2=Garrison|first2=RyanJ|title=Aythya fuligula (tufted duck)|url=https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Aythya_fuligula/|access-date=2020-09-25|website=Animal Diversity Web|language=en}}

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 the British Isles. One individual has been reported as far south as Melbourne, Australia.{{Cite news |last=Wahlquist |first=Calla |date=2019-01-15 |title=Australia's first tufted duck sighting creates a 'mega-twitch' at sewage pond |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jan/15/australias-first-tufted-duck-sighting-creates-a-mega-twitch-at-sewage-pond |access-date=2025-03-09 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}} They form large flocks on open water in winter.

Their breeding habitat is close to marshes and lakes with plenty of vegetation to conceal the nest. They are also found on coastal lagoons, shorelines and sheltered ponds.

File:Aythya fuligula MWNH 1014.JPG]]

In northern Europe breeding takes place between mid May and the end of July. They are not colonial but sometimes the nests can be in a loose group. Most nests are placed beside water; an island site is preferred. The nest is built by the female and consists of depression in the ground that is lined with grass, reeds and down. The clutch consists of 8–11 greenish-grey eggs that measure {{cvt|59|x|41|mm}}. They are incubated by the female starting after the clutch is complete so that they hatch synchronously. The female covers the eggs with down when she is away from the nest. The eggs hatch after around 25 days (range 23–28 days). The young are precocial and nidifugous. They can feed themselves and are cared for by the female who broods them when they are small. They typically fledge when aged between 45 and 50 days. Tufted ducks usually first breed at one year but occasionally at 2 years.{{sfn|Cramp|1977|p=584}}

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.

They are hunted as sport in the UK, Italy, Iran, Finland and Denmark, and commercially in Iran. Eggs used to be (and maybe continue to be) gathered in Iceland.{{cite web|website=BLI Datazone |title=Tufted Duck Aythya fuligula|url=https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/tufted-duck-aythya-fuligula/text |publisher=Bird Life International}}

Because it feeds on the water bottom, it can taste "muddy" and is considered a less tasty duck.{{cite web|title=A complete guide to cooking game birds|url=https://www.lovefood.com/news/58528/guide-to-game-birds-of-a-feather |website=loveFOOD |date=21 November 2017}}

File:Tufted duck in nagadaha lake.jpg|Male at Nagdaha, Nepal

File:Reiherente (Aythya fuligula) auf dunklem Wasser.jpg|Adult male, Vrouwenpolder, Netherlands

File:Tufted Duck ducklings.jpg|Ducklings

File:Tufted ducks (Aythya fuligula) male juveniles.jpg|Immature males, Farmoor Reservoir, Oxfordshire

File:Tufted duck (aythya fuligula).JPG|Male, Farmoor Reservoir, Oxfordshire

File:Tufted duck (Aythya fuligula) female.JPG|Female, WWT London Wetland Centre

File:Tufted Duck male AMSM8782.jpg|Male at Jamnagar, India

File:Tufted Duck male AMSM8790.jpg|Female at Jamnagar, India

File:Tufted duck flaps its wings in Nagadaha lake, Nepal - (Drinking games).jpg | A tufted duck swimming in Nagadaha lake, Lalitpur, Nepal

File:Stamp of Belarus - 1996 - Colnect 278469 - Tufted Duck Aythya fuligula.jpeg|Tufted duck on stamp of Belarus, 1996.

File:Vigg (Aythya fuligula) -Ystad-2016.jpg|Flock of 2000 tufted ducks in Ystad port, Sweden

{{Reflist | refs =

{{ cite book |title=The Atlas of Wintering Birds in Britain and Ireland |editor-first=Peter |editor-last=Lack |first=Malcolm A. |last=Ogilvie |chapter=Tufted Duck |year=1986 |location=London, UK |publisher=T & AD Poyser |page=110 |isbn=978-1-4081-3828-1 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=blWiD_QEYkMC&pg=PA110 |access-date=12 August 2014 }}

}}

{{refbegin}}

• {{ cite book | editor1-last=Cramp | editor1-first=Stanley | editor1-link=Stanley Cramp | year=1977 | chapter=Aythya fuliga Tufted duck | title=Handbook of the Birds of Europe the Middle East and North Africa. The Birds of the Western Palearctic | volume=I: Ostrich to Ducks | location=Oxford | publisher=Oxford University Press | isbn=978-0-19-857358-6 | pages=577-586 }}

{{refend}}

{{Commons category|Aythya fuligula}}

{{Wikispecies|Aythya fuligula}}

• [http://gallery.new-ecopsychology.org/en/tufted_ducks.htm Tufted Ducks video] from Gallery of Living Nature.
• {{BirdLife|22680391|Aythya fuligula}}
• {{Avibase|name=Aythya fuligula}}
• {{InternetBirdCollection|tufted-duck-aythya-fuligula}}
• {{VIREO|Tufted+Duck}}
• {{IUCN_Map|22680391/166205462|Aythya fuligula}}
• {{Xeno-canto species|Aythya|fuligula|Tufted duck}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q26444}}

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tufted duck

tufted duck

Category:Birds of Eurasia

Category:Birds of Africa

tufted duck

Category:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus