Tufted Ducks - Western Isles Birds - Birdlife and Bird Sightings - Isle of Harris

Tufted Ducks - Hebridean Birds - Western Isles Birds - Birdlife and Bird Sightings in the Hebrides - Isle of Lewis and Isle of Harris
These diving ducks - the tufted ducks - medium sized birds - are the most widespread duck in Britain. The distinctive male bird - is jet black - flanks and belly white - the head with a purple gloss has yellow eyes and a long head tuft. The female is a uniform brown with a short tuft - she often has a white band on the forehead around the base of the bill.

These birds breed in the UK and Scotland. Here in the Western Isles - there are more birds that breed on the Uists - but a few do so on The Isle of Harris and The Isle of lewis.

Tufted - Ducks - Western Isles Birds

Tufted Duck - Western Isles June 2009

(Click Image for Larger Pictures)

Tufted Duck
Ref:TUF2000

Tufted Duck - Isle of Harris
Ref:TUF2001

Tufted Duck - Isle of Harris
Ref:TUF2002

The tufted duck gets its name from the crest on the back of their heads.

Black-and-white birds - the males look quite splendid. Some of these birds do breed in The Western Isles.

This tufted duck spread its wings wide for us to see - Isle of Harris - June 2009

Tufted Duck
Ref:TUF2000

Tufted Duck - Isle of Harris
Ref:TUF3000

Female Tufted Duck
Ref:TUF2000

The tufted duck gets its name from the crest on the back of their heads.

These two are part of a large group (that you can see by the larger picture) - spotted Isle of Harris June 2009.

The female Tufted Duck has only a small tuft, not always noticeable. She has a dark brown head and back, mid-brown sides and a , blue-grey bill and of course the yellow eyes.

Male Tufted Duck
Ref:TUF20007

The male tufted duck is jet black with flanks and belly white.

Bird Overview - Tufted Ducks
Family	Swans, Ducks and Geese	Latin name	Aythya fuligula
Population	Common	Similar Species	Scaup
Description	These diving ducks - the tufted ducks - medium sized birds - are the most widespread duck in Britain. The distinctive male bird - is jet black - flanks and belly white - the head with a purple gloss has yellow eyes and a long head tuft. The female is a uniform brown with a short tuft - she often has a white band on the forehead around the base of the bill.
Size	40cm - 47cm They weigh about 750 g
Habitat	Large - Open waters - slowly flowing waters with vegetated banks.
Food	The tufted ducks eat Molluscs, insects and some plants. Tufted ducks to quite a depth (down to 14 m) in search of food such as aquatic creatures and water plants, in the mud and stones. Larger fish or vegetable matter may be brought to the surface to eat. Insects and duckweed floating on the surface are also scooped up.
Voice	These ducks are usually quiet, except in the breeding season when males make a musical whistling call while courting females
Breeding	Theses ducks often nest together in large numbers. They share spots with nesting gulls and terns very often. The aggressive terns may help to drive predators away from the nests of the ducks. They breed May - August - have 8-10eggs - Incubation is 23 - 25 days and the young fledge at 7weeks. These tufted ducks nest on the ground. THe ducklings dive almost as soon as they are hatched..
Misc. Info	In the last century, tufted ducks have increased in numbers. This may be partly due to the increase in the number of man-made lakes - ponds, reservoirs, gravel pits and settling lagoons. All of these areas offer an ideal feeding habitat for them

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