They Called Him "Fuligula"

Every part of the country has it's "specialty" rarities. The northeast gets European birds. Florida gets birds from the Carribean. Texas and Arizona suck up Mexican specialties. The West Coast gets Asians.

Yup. There are a lot of Asians around these parts. I am half Asian myself, which gives me Hybrid Vigor. Of course, birders here are just as disproportionately white as anywhere else, but we are not talking about that. No, when I'm talking about Asians, I'm talking about birds.

Of course, we don't get the volume of Asian Awesomeness that Alaska does, but we do get our share. In the last few months I've been lucky enough to see Falcated Duck, Red-throated Pipit, Brambling, Ruff, Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, and a couple of Tufted Ducks. Maybe I've seen all of these birds because of my Hybrid Vigor.

Tufted Ducks occur regularly every winter from Washington south to the bay area, and sometimes further, making them the most dependable Asiafowl to find aside from the comparatively abundant Eurasian Wigeon and "Common" Teal.

As you can see in this photograph, Tufted Ducks are clearly awesome. Have you seen one? No? Well come visit Lake Merritt in Oakland, California, where this dude spends every winter. Although it's often passed out with the scaup flock in the middle of the lake, you can occasionally find it lurking just a few feet from shore. I last saw the bird yesterday (February 9), so if you're in the area, come on by.

Per my normal policy, I will now intentionally not begin talking about how to identify Tufted Ducks. That would be boring and redundant, as you probably have your own bird books, and as you can see it has a giant tuft sticking out of the back of its head, which is indicative of it being a Tufted Duck.

Here's our Tufted friend with cousins, Greater Scaup (middle) and Ring-necked Duck (right). Obviously, they all look different. Sorry I couldn't get any Lesser Scaup in to the frame.

Like Greater and Lesser Scaup, the color of a drake's head is dependent on the light. Sometimes they have green, and sometimes purple heads. Not useful for identification, but a nice aesthetic touch.

Tufted Ducks can be hard to spot. Even when they're right in front of you. You should still be embarrassed though.

Tufted Ducks are easiest to spot when you happen to be positioned within 10 feet of the bird, preferably when it's directly beneath you. In fact, I recommend this method highly. That said, I have met more than one Lake Merritt birder who failed to notice the Tufted Duck sitting within petting distance from shore, which has heavy implications, to say the least...

Here it is, the shot you've been waiting for...The Bellowing Tufted. I would describe the listening experience as similar to what it would be like to have two (2) Amazonian Giant Centipedes in your ears, sinking their horrible fangs into your ear drums and sending you into terminal brain paralysis.

Tuft tuft tuft.

Since Tufted Ducks spend inordinate amounts of time being rare and making birders wet their pants, they need to get their shut-eye.