Bufflehead

Bucephala albeolaOrder: ANSERIFORMESFamily: Geese and Ducks (Anatidae)
Bufflehead Portrait
  Splitbar
Range Map for Bufflehead

Overview

Bufflehead: Small diving duck, mostly white with glossy green-black to purple-black head and back. Head has large white patch behind eye. The wings are dark with white patches visible in flight. Feeds on aquatic plant seeds and insects, larvae, and snails. Swift direct flight with rapid wing beats.

Range and Habitat

Bufflehead: Breeds in Alaska and in Canada east to western Quebec, and south in the mountains to Washington and Montana. Spends winters along the Atlantic to northern Florida and across the southern U.S., and south to Mexico and the Gulf coast. Preferred habitats include lakes, ponds, saltwater bays, and estuaries.

Splitbar

Listen:

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Voice Text

"quack"

Splitbar

Related Birds:

Surf Scoter
Common Goldeneye
Ruddy Duck
Harlequin Duck
Long-tailed Duck
Smew
Hooded Merganser
Barrow's Goldeneye
.

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Family Diving Ducks (Anatidae)_blue
Species Bucephala albeola
Length13 - 16 Inches
Wingspan22 Inches

Bufflehead

Bufflehead: Small diving duck, mostly white with glossy green-black to purple-black head and back. Head has large white patch behind eye. The wings are dark with white patches visible in flight. Feeds on aquatic plant seeds and insects, larvae, and snails. Swift direct flight with rapid wing beats.

● Song: "quack"

● Foraging & Feeding: Bufflehead: Diet includes insects, crustaceans, mollusks, and seeds. Forages in open, shallow water and dives from the surface for food.

● Breeding & nesting: Bufflehead: Eight to ten creamy yellow, light olive buff or pale buff eggs are laid in a nest made of down built in an abandoned woodpecker hole up to 20 feet above the ground. Incubation ranges from 28 to 33 days and is carried out by the female.

● Similar species: Bufflehead: Hooded Merganser is larger, has brown sides, spike-like bill that hooks at tip, and large head crest that can be lowered or fanned. Ruddy Duck has longer tail and bill.

Flight Pattern

Swift direct flight with rapid wing beats.
Bufflehead Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: Bufflehead: Breeds in Alaska and in Canada east to western Quebec, and south in the mountains to Washington and Montana. Spends winters along the Atlantic to northern Florida and across the southern U.S., and south to Mexico and the Gulf coast. Preferred habitats include lakes, ponds, saltwater bays, and estuaries.
BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester
PopulationDeclining
MigrationMigratory
Weight16 Ounces