Background

The bufflehead, Bucephala albeola, is a small, energetic diving duck that prefers the Bay's open waters to the shallows. Categorized as sea ducks, buffleheads are fairly abundant in the Bay in the autumn and winter and often can be seen swimming in water depths of four to fifteen feet. They are feisty, appealing birds, in constant motion, swimming along the water's surface or bobbing underneath in search of food.

The bufflehead swims in many salinities as well as fresh water and seems to prefer to congregate in small groups rather than enormous flocks. Often one or two birds serve as sentries while several others forage. Buffleheads can take flight almost directly from the water; unlike most diving ducks, such as eiders, they don't require a running start.

Despite its size, the bufflehead's disproportionately large, "buffalo" head makes it an easy bird to identify, even from a distance. Adult drakes are striking birds, with dark green-and-black or purple heads tinged with a bronze iridescence. Their back and primary feathers are black and their tails gray. A white patch extends from the eye to the back of the head, and their necks and undersides also are white. Females have a subtler coloration, with a grayish-brown head, back and wings, and gray underbelly, and brown feet. Adults usually reach a length of 30 to 37 cm. Yearling males may be mistaken for females.

Habitat and Life Cycle

Buffleheads feed on submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV), mollusks, the seeds of aquatic plants, crustaceans, aquatic insects and small fish. They winter in the Bay and along the Atlantic coast as far north as New England and begin to arrive in the Bay in the fall. Their numbers peak in November, as many migrants arrive from their summer breeding grounds in Canada and the northern tier of the United States, where they nest by woodland ponds and streams.

• Buffleheads often nest in trees, in abandoned flicker nest cavities. Females are small enough to pass through the flicker hole. The nests usually consist of loose material and vegetation and are lined with down from the hen's breast as she lays and incubates her eggs. Buffleheads occasionally will nest in sandbanks, like kingfishers.
• Females travel north every year between mid-April and May to nest in the area in which they were born. During breeding season, they lay one egg each morning for one to two weeks.
• The female lays between six and fourteen buff-colored eggs; most nests contain a total of eight or ten. The male bufflehead will abandon the female when full-time incubation begins, and spend the summer at bufflehead molting grounds. After a four-week incubation period, the ducklings hatch. Each member of the brood leaps from its nest in the manner of wood ducks, then follows the hen to water. Bufflehead ducklings feed mainly on aquatic insects. The female and young reunite with the male once the hatchlings learn to fly, after about seven or eight weeks.

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Last modified: 12/11/03