What colour is a tufted duck?

Now clearly the male tufted duck is black and white, or is he?

Look carefully at the photo above and you may notice the hint of green in the feathers on his back and on the very top of his head. So, sometimes the tufted duck is black, white and green. But wait, what's this

The tufted duck above has clearly got a purple cheek!

It all depends on the angle of the light! The tufted duck, like many other birds, has irridescent plumage (you can find out more about this type of colouring by scrolling down in this article).

Thanks to the tufted ducks on Lochend Park for showing their true colours yesterday.

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Meanwhile, the pussy willow is now properly out and is beautifully soft and smooth to the touch.