What do they look like?

The Bufflehead is a small diving duck, with males at the upper end of the weight range and females at the lower end. Buffleheads are compact, with a short neck and a short narrow grey bill. The sexes are strongly dimorphic. Breeding males have a black head marked with purple and green, along with a black back and wings. They are white underneath, as well as having a white patch over their head from their eyes covering their ear region. Females are dark brown with pale grey underneath and a less distinct white head patch.

Where in the world do they live?

The Bufflehead ranges predominantly through boreal forests and aspen parklands of Canada and Alaska, with the highest density in British Columbia and Alberta. Their nonbreeding range extends through the contential United States into Northern Mexico.

What kind of habitat do they need?

Buffleheads seek out either small lakes or permanent freshwater ponds with no outlet. Perhaps because they seem to depend on the nesting cavities of the Northern Flicker, their habitat is coincident with its habitat. It includes poplar or aspen stands or coniferous forests mixed with poplars or aspens. Bufflehead will nest in prairie habitats only when stands of trees and water are present close by.

How do they reproduce?

Unlike most ducks, Buffleheads form long term monogamous pair bonds. They nest in cavities excavated by northern flickers or in nest boxes. They do not modify nests once they have selected a nesting site. Egg laying occurs in early May, with each female producing 6 to 11 eggs. Females incubate the eggs alone, taking two 80 minute recesses per day. Eggs are incubated for 28 to 33 days. After hatching, the young remain at the nest for about one day, then the female leads them to the nearest water. She cares for the young alone, but never feeds them. Rather, she protects a set territory which provides the ducklings with a safe area to find food. Occasionally territiorial disputes between females arise, sometimes leading to the death of ducklings.

How do they behave?

Buffleheads walk on dry land only when leading their young to water. They take flight by running on water, flying low over water and higher over land. The sight of Buffleheads diving is an interesting spectacle. They pull their plumage tight into their body, and with a powerful thrust, preceeded by a slight forward and upward leap, they plunge downward. They use only their feet for propulsion under the water and appear to bob like a cork back to the surface of the water.

What do they eat?

Buffleheads feed in open, shallow water. They dive for their food, which they swallow while still underwater. This includes both freshwater and saltwater aquatic invertebrates (insects, crustaceans, and molluscs). They also eat some seeds, chiefly seeds of pondweeds and bulrushes.

How do they interact with us?

Buffleheads are hunted for sport throughout the U.S. and Canada.

Are they endangered?

While Buffleheads are not prized among duck hunters, they make up about 2% of sport hunting in the U.S. and Canada. This causes a potential problem, since the tendency for ducks to return to their breeding ground year after year coupled with local overharvesting can cause devastation of local populations. Further, clear-cut lumbering threatens their boreal forest habitats. Nesting boxes provide a possible solution for this problem; however, these boxes must be the correct size and location, or other cavity-nesters may exclude Bufflehead. Currently, Bufflehead populations appear to be in good condition; they are among the few species of duck whose numbers have grown since the mid-1950's. Careful monitoring should continue, however, to insure that lumbering and overhunting do not come to threaten their populations.

Some more information...

In a study of tagged Buffleheads, the oldest recorded male was 15 years old and the oldest female was 12 years old. Both of these birds were shot.

Contributors

Jennifer Roof (author), University of Michigan: June, 1999.

References

Gauthier, Gilles. The Birds of North America. No. 67, 1993. The American Ornithologists' Union.