Eider
A male eider is black and white, with a black cap, and a pale green patch on back of its neck, and a yellowish bill. Females are brown with a black bill and look so different that they were originally thought to be distinct species.
Ducks
Ducks are a group of birds usually associated with park ponds however many of the duck species listed here won’t be spotted in your local park because they prefer the food available in estuaries, on beaches and in rivers. Some of the ducks seen during the winter months around our coast will have travelled thousands of miles to call our shore their home.
Gadwall
Gadwall are a lot less common than other ducks such as mallards, wigeon and teal: one great place to spot them is at Hill Head beach, near Titchfield Haven National Nature Reserve.
Mallard
Mallards are large, heavy looking ducks with long bodies and long broad bills. The male of the species has a dark green head, a yellow bill with a white ‘scarf’. The females are mainly brown with an orange bill.
Pintail
This elegant dabbling duck is easy to identify due to their extra long, pointed tails, from which it gets its name.
Red-breasted merganser
Red breasted mergansers can fly at speeds of around 80mph, making them the fastest flying duck.
Shelduck
A large, colourful duck, bigger than most ducks at around 65cm but generally smaller than geese so a bit of a intermediate species.
Shoveler
This duck really lives up to its name. It has a big, shovel‑shaped bill that it sweeps from side to side in the water to scoop up food.
Teal
The UK’s smallest duck yet they fly all the way from the Baltics, and even as far as western Russia, to reach the Solent every winter.
Tufted duck
This common diving duck is certainly a bird that lives up to its name, with the males sporting a long black tuft of feathers down the back of their heads.
Wigeon
The male has a chestnut head with a characteristic creamy-yellow ‘punk’ crown stripe, grey back and sides with a pink chest and white wing patches that can be seen when they fly.
