Tufted Duck: Flapping in the Sunlight

Today I witnessed another tufted duck courting behaviour: the head-throw! The males have been making their adorable little courting call for about a week now, but today I saw one taking things a step further by performing the head-throw in which he tips his head right back (quickly) so that the back of his head hits the groove between his wings. It is a very quick thing. It is a show for the female, but if the female is interested she may mirror the head-throw amongst other behaviours.

My photo is a male tufted duck flapping his wings: the subtle green and purple iridescence on his head is visible (not vividly), and this photo also shows the way that the white flashes on the sides continues all the way underneath the bodies. I used to think that they just had white patches on their sides... Their wings have pleasingly contrasty white patches on them too. Beautiful little ducks!