Tufted duck, male

The adult male is all black except for white flanks and a blue-grey bill. It has an obvious head tuft that gives the species its name. These birds feed mainly by diving, but they will dabble. They eat molluscs, aquatic insects, snails, amphibians, small fish and the roots, seeds and buds of aquatic plants. They also skim flies and duckweed on the water's surface. There are no breeding records of tufted ducks in North America. They nest on islands in lakes or on sloped banks of small wetlands in reeds, tufts of grass or under bushes close to water, laying an average of 9 eggs.