Tufted Duck

Aythya fuligula

Order: Anseriformes
Family: Anatidae
Presence in the Strait: Seasonal
Abundance: scarce
IUCN (global): LC · Least concern
In Spanish: Porrón moñudo

Photograph: Katja Schulz, CC BY, vía iNaturalist

Length: 40–47 cm
Wingspan: 67–73 cm
Weight: 775 g

Presence in the Strait

Scarce winter visitor to wetlands (<100).

Identification

The only duck with a crest, especially in males. In flight, white belly, flanks and wingbars. Males appear black and white. Female is dark brown, similar to a female Ferruginous Duck but without white on stern, less prominent wingbars and yellow iris.

Movements

They arrive at the beginning of November and leave in 1 hf. March; these two weeks and 2nd hf. November register migration peaks. st Anatidae Pato Colorado Porrón Europeo Porrón Pardo Porrón Moñudo

Bioestrecho editorial text. Last revised: 8 September 2026.

Photographs from iNaturalist observations with the licence checked file by file. Those marked “Strait” were taken within the area; place and date are those of each observation.

Calendar in the Strait

30 %

Peak in November. Observations under CC0 or CC BY licences. The distribution also reflects observation effort.

Where it is seen

Open records from the atlas database, in cells of about 3.6 km. Opacity follows the square root of the count, and also reflects where people observe most.

See on the map

First open record: 25 January 1996
Latest record: 29 November 2024

The oldest and the most recent open observation in the extended area. A recent first observation does not mean the species is new: it means nobody had published it openly before.

Conservation

The catalogues, Andalusian and Spanish, are what binds; the Red Book assesses the Spanish population with IUCN criteria, and the global Red List is the context.

LCNTVUENCR

Andalusian Catalogue: Not included
Spanish Catalogue: Not included
Red Book of the Birds of Spain 2021: DD · Data deficient · breeding — EN · Endangered · wintering or migrating
Global Red List (IUCN): LC · Least concern

Andalusian Catalogue: Junta de Andalucía, list of 24 April 2025. Spanish Catalogue: MITECO, table of 30 June 2025. Red Book: SEO/BirdLife, 2021 (Annex I). IUCN: via GBIF, 6 September 2026. Red Book and IUCN categories are assessments; catalogue categories are legal obligations.

Same genus in the Strait

Common Pochard42–49 cm · Seasonal · overlapping size
Ferruginous Duck38–42 cm · Occasional · overlapping size

Species of the same genus that also occur here, ordered by how close they are in size. Being relatives does not mean they are confused in the field, but that is where the doubts start: compare size and season.

Classification

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Anseriformes
Family: Anatidae
GBIF taxon key: 2498261

Sources

Distribution and calendar: Bioestrecho's own database, ingested from GBIF and OBIS
Photograph: Katja Schulz, CC BY, vía iNaturalist
Taxonomy: GBIF backbone, pending WoRMS for marine taxa
Editorial text: written by Bioestrecho
Last revised: 8 September 2026

Tufted Duck

Presence in the Strait

Identification

Movements

Gallery