I hope all Tufted Duck spotters are making sure their birds are "pure." We
have had several Tufted Duck-scaup hybrids in western WA that people
originally reported as "immature male" Tufted--they had short tufts, and at
close range obvious vermiculation was evident on the back. Any short-tufted
Tufted Duck is suspect. How about females? Anyone seeing them? Tufted Duck
is a good example of a species that has achieved a status in the state so
that people are getting more casual about reporting (and, especially,
describing) them. Up until 1992, all Tufted Ducks in California were
submitted to their record committee; at that time there were almost 50
different records (one record one bird, whether seen once or for the whole
winter).

Dennis Paulson, Univ. Puget Sound