Tufted Duck - Female and young Aythya fuligula

Tufted Duck female
Tufted Duck female
Tufted Duck female
The female Tufted Duck has only a small tuft, sometimes indistinguishable. The tufted breeding drake is shown on a separate page.
Tufted Duck female
Tufted Duck female
Tufted Duck female
She has a dark brown head and back, mid-brown sides, blue-grey bill and yellow to light amber eyes.
Tufted Duck female
Tufted Duck female
Tufted Duck
Some female Tufted Ducks can be confused with a Scaup since they often have a white patch at base of the bill, although the white is less extensive than on the Scaup and the back and sides have less grey. Above right is a juvenile with dark amber eyes.
Tufted Duck female Female Tufted Duck in flight.
Tufted Duck female With ducklings and showing the brown-bordered white edge to her wings.
Tufted Duck female With ducklings.
Tufted Duckling Tufted duckling, much darker than a Mallard and no eye-stripe.
Tufted Duckling Some Tufted ducklings are almost black.
Tufted Ducklings They take to the water at a very young age.
Tufted Ducklings
Tufted Ducklings
A little older, still with dark eyes.
Tufted Ducklings
Juveniles beginning to get adult-pattern plumage and lighter eyes.
Tufted Duck juvenile
Tufted Duck juvenile
White chest and amber eyes. Juvenile with some hybridism?
Tufted Duck or Scaup
Tufted Duck
Some Tufted females, especially juvenile females, can look very Scaup-like. Scaup has a rounder head (no hint of tuft), heavier bill, broader build, greyer flanks and a larger white face patch, often extending below the bill. (There are also Tufted/Scaup hybrids . . .)