Tufted Duck - Aythya fuligula
Pictures by Ray Tipper - More about Ray...
More about Ray Tipper
Ray Tipper began his birding on the North Kent Marshes at the age if eleven. He left his native Britain in 1973 spending most of the next 22 years in Hong Kong. As a trustee of WWF he was intimately involved with its renowned Mai Po Nature Reserve. It was in Hong Kong that Ray turned to bird photography, which quickly became his major interest. He gained associateship of the Royal Photographic Society in 1990, and his photographs appear in journals and books throughout the world. Ray guides specialist birdwatching and bird photography tours and since 1997 has led more than 100 tours in Europe, the Americas, Asia, Africa and Madagascar. He now lives in the Algarve, where his intimate knowledge of its birds has been recognised by his appointment as Chairman of the Portuguese Rarities Committee.
Tufted Ducks are far from numerous winter visitors to the Algarve but can usually be found in small numbers at Lagoa dos Salgados, the ETAR de Vilamoura and Lagoa de São Lourenço. One of the so-called diving ducks, it procures its aquatic animal and plant food by diving under the surface of the water.
Male. Lagoa de São Lourenço, Quinta do Lago.
As in this individual, female Tufted Ducks sometimes display a noticeable area of white extending upwards from the base of the upper mandible, inviting mis-identification as Greater Scaup. Lagoa de São Lourenço, Quinta de Lago
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