A popular all round visitor. The males are black and white in Winter with yellow eyes and have a tuft behind their head which diferentiates them from the similar looking Ring Necked Ducks.  They have a bluish coloured beak with a black tip. The females have an all brown/black plumage. During the Summer months it becomes quite difficult to tell the sexes apart. Although resident in the uk all year round during the winter months they can be found around the Mediterranean Sea, Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf.

They breed across Europe, the females making their nests in tufts of grass amongst the reeds on small island in lakes. They lay around 9 eggs.