Tufted Duck
Aythya fuligula
Length 40-47cm

Familiar and distinctive diving duck. Widespread and common year-round resident in Britain and Ireland, numbers augmented in winter by continental birds. Male appears black and white but purplish sheen to head visible in good light; has tufted crest. Female has brown plumage, palest on flanks. Shows suggestion of crest and sometimes white at base of bill, this never as extensive as on female scaup. Both sexes show yellow eye and black-tipped grey bill. Favours lakes and gravel pits, sometimes in urban settings. Nests in waterside vegetation.