Tufted Duck (Aythya fuligula)

The Tufted Duck (TUDU) is about 17” long with a wingspan of 26” and weight of 1.6 lb. (749g). The genus name Aythya (AY-thih-ah) is from the Greek, aithya, meaning a seabird. The species name fuligula (FEW-lih-goo-la) may derive from the Latin word “fuligo” meaning soot, and the males have glossy black plumage on their head, breast and back. The sides and belly are a bright white. The bill is gray with a black tip.

The name Tufted comes from the loose tuft of feathers that hang from the back of the head. The male Tufted Duck can be mistaken for Greater or Lesser Scaup, or the Ring-necked Duck which have a similar colored bill, light colored sides and dark head and back. But the TUDU is the only one with stark all-white sides and black back, and a tuft behind the head. The female TUDUs are dark brown breast and back and pale gray-brown sides. They have a very small tuft on the head.

The TUDU is a common diving duck of the Old World from Iceland throughout Northern Europe and Asia. They wander to North America from Europe and Iceland to the east coast of N.A., and from Asia to Alaska and the Pacific coast. In Europe there are resident breeding populations in Britain, northern France and Germany. They are still considered rare everywhere in N.A. except western Alaska. It is considered rare in Washington state west of the Cascades and casual east of the Cascades. A few are reported every year.

The latest and closest sighting was a Tufted Duck on Phantom Lake in S.E. Bellevue early in Jan. 2005. They have been seen before in Grays Harbor area and the Everett Spencer Island area.