Aythya collaris
A North American vagrant that turns up each winter on UK lakes, like a tufted duck with a white bill-ring.
Diving duck · 10 breeding pairs (UK)
In most ducks the male (drake) and female (hen) look quite different. Study both to identify any bird.
Black back and breast, pale grey flanks, a peaked head and a white ring around a grey bill.
Brown with a white eye-ring and a faint white ring near the bill tip.
Photos: Walter Siegmund · CC BY 2.5 via Wikimedia Commons
Aquatic plants, seeds and insects gathered while diving or dabbling.
Lakes, reservoirs and gravel pits; sometimes with tufted ducks.
Does not breed in the UK; nests across North America.
A handful cross the Atlantic each year as vagrants.
Generally silent in the UK.
Compare with close relatives.
Green list
🏠
Aythya fuligula
A smart black-and-white diving duck with a jaunty dangling crest, common on lakes and reservoirs.
Red list
❄️
Aythya ferina
A round-headed diving duck whose drake glows chestnut and silver on a winter lake.
Green list
❄️
Bucephala clangula
A striking black-and-white diving duck of lakes and coasts, famous for head-breaking courtship displays.
Red list
❄️
Aythya marila
A chunky, round-headed diving duck of the open coast, the sea-going cousin of the tufted duck.