Appearance:

Hard to distinguish from Guillemot, especially at a distance. Bill heavier, shorter, less pointed and with lateral white stripe at base (not obvious at a distance). Flanks lacks Guillemot's streaking, and armpits are white. Upperparts blacker, without brownish tones. Tail shorter than razorbill, with protruding feet in flight. Only lower cheeks white in winter, with the area behind the eye being black (white in both Guillemot and Razorbill). Pointed (not rounded) white wedge protruding from front of chest to lower throat. Neck, head and bill, heavier than in Guillemot, but more slender than Razorbill. Bill often tilted downwards in flight.

Sound:

Coarse and deep voice, like a cross between Guillemot and Razorbill. Coarser than Guillemot but with the same laughing ending, but slower.

Contact call:

Distribution:

Wikipedia: map (se also Xeno-canto below)

Ecology:

Birdlife ecology

Links:

Observation.org Latest observations

Video IBC

Image search Flickr NB! May give other species

Sound search at Xeno-canto

CC

CC-sounds:,www.xeno-canto.org,Andrew Spencer,http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/

Appearance:

Small dabbling duck. Males unmistakable with broad white supercilium and high contrast between the dark mottled breast and the lighter flanks (visible at considerable distance). Female mottled in light brown colours with typical supercilium and contrasting eye-stripe. White spot at base of bill. Throat much lighter than in Teal. Both sexes with dark and fairly long bill. Head gives a square impression due to the flat crown. Speculum in flight shows narrow white edges, lacking Teal's broad front edge. Agile flight, but lacks the twists of Teals.

Sound:

Male display sound a characteristic dry rattling, like the sound of running fingernails along the teeth of a comb. A bit similar to Ptarmigan. Also heard at other times than when courting. Female: like female Teal, but typically a bit deeper and shorter calls.

Display-call male:

Distribution:

Wikipedia: map (se also Xeno-canto below)

Ecology:

Birdlife ecology

Links:

Observation.org Latest observations

Video IBC

Image search Flickr NB! May give other species

Sound search at Xeno-canto

Featherbase

CC