Tufted Duck Aythya fuligula

The Tufted Duck is a breeding species over most parts of the country. It occurs in widely different habitats such as archipelagos on the east coast, eutrophic lakes in the southern part of the country, but it is also widespread in the mountain chain, being one of the commonest diving duck species here.

In winter, the Tufted Duck is the commonest species in Swedish inshore waters. It is common both in the east coast archipelagoes and the open coasts in southernmost Sweden. In mild winters the majority of Swedish Tufted Ducks are found in the archipelago areas, whereas there is a marked movement to the open coasts of southernmost Sweden during cold winters. Winter flocks of up to 10,000 to 20,000 individuals are normal. Country-wide surveys in 1988 - 89 located about 115,000 Tufted Ducks in Sweden, but the national indices indicate a higher level. In the  country-wide survey in 2004  234,000 Tufted Ducks were counted in Swedish waters.  Thus about 15% of the entire Northwest European winter population is found in Swedish waters. In the last country-wide survey, in 2015, the estimated total for Sweden was lower, 182000. During autumn large flocks are gathering in different parts of the archipelagos and on some lakes.

Both September and January counts show significantly increasing trends in the longterm indices. During the last ten years no trend was found for September, whereas there was a decrease in the January indices.

The marked increase in Swedish wintering totals for the Tufted Duck is clearly related to changes in the climate with milder winters in the north as was found in an international study of the midwinter counts for a number of species. There has also been changes within the country. In 2015 the wintering totals for the archipelago of Östergötland was much higher than in the previous country-wide survey. On the other hand the opposite was found in the Stockholm archipelago. The latter change can possibly be related to the establishment of a new wintering tradition for the species in the Åland archipelago of Finland.