Tufted duck (male)

Description:

A common migrant and winter visitor to Switzerland, the Tufted duck is a medium-sized diving duck with striking yellow eyes.The adult male here shows the obvious head tuft that gives the species its name. They can easily be observed as seen here diving for food under water. They pop up like a cork without ever seeming getting wet.

Habitat:

The shores of a large Central European lake.

Notes:

During the 1960s, the zebra mussel spread to colonize lakes and rivers in Switzerland. Many ducks, including the tufted duck, got a new source of food as a consequence. Tufted ducks reacted quickly to this new food source and have expanded their wintering area to the southwest of Europe.