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Tufted Duck

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Birds

                   iTufted Duck
   Male
   Male

                             Conservation status

   Least Concern (LC)
            Scientific classification

   Kingdom: Animalia
   Phylum:  Chordata
   Class:   Aves
   Order:   Anseriformes
   Family:  Anatidae
   Genus:   Aythya
   Species: A. fuligula

                                Binomial name

   Aythya fuligula
   Linnaeus, 1758

   The Tufted Duck, Aythya fuligula is a medium-sized diving duck with a
   population close to one million birds.

Description

   The adult male is all black except for white flanks and a blue-grey
   bill. It has an obvious head tuft that gives the species its name.
   Female Tufted Duck
   Enlarge
   Female Tufted Duck

   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 only duck which is at all similar is the drake North American
   Ring-necked Duck, which however has a different head shape, no tuft and
   greyish flanks.

   The Tufted Duck is one of the species to which the Agreement on the
   Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds ( AEWA) applies.

Distribution

   The Tufted Duck breeds widely 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 winter in
   the milder south and west of Europe, southern Asia and all year in most
   of the United Kingdom. They will 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.

Food

   These birds feed mainly by diving, but they will dabble. They eat
   molluscs, aquatic insects and some plants and sometimes feed at night.
   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tufted_Duck"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
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