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Diving ducks frequent large, deep lakes and rivers, as well as coastal bays and inlets. When launching into flight, most of this group patter along the water before becoming airborne. They feed by diving, often to considerable depths. Since their wings are smaller in proportion to the size and weight of their bodies, they have a more rapid wingbeat than puddle ducks.
These tiny, cavity-nesting ducks are sometimes called "butterballs," and are a common migrant, although they don't nest here. Ohio supports a globally significant concentration of bufflehead in late fall and early winter in the Lake Erie waters around Kelleys Island, where several thousand birds congregate.
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Bufflehead
Bucephala albeola
At-a-Glance
• Type: Diving Duck
• Mating: Monogamous; birds form a pair and work together to rear the young.
• Incubation: 28-33 days
• Clutch Size: 6-11 eggs
• Young Fledge: 50-55 days after hatching
• Typical foods: aquatic plants, mollusks, fish, and shellfish |
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Description
The body and wings of the small (teal-sized) bufflehead are a bold black and white color pattern. The males have a white patch below the eye and to the back of the head and the females have a white spot behind the eye.
Habitat and Habits
The largest numbers of buffleheads migrate just ahead of freezeover while stragglers move south in mid-fall. Most flocks in feeding areas are small (five or six birds) with more hens and immatures than adult drakes. This species has a low, swift flight and, unlike most divers, they can fly straight up from a watery takeoff. The largest concentrations are on the Pacific and Atlantic Coast, and the Gulf of Mexico. Inland, they will remain as far north as open water permits. The drakes squeak and have a guttural note and the hens quack weakly, although both are usually silent.
Reproduction and Care of the Young
Buffleheads nest in cavaties; usually nestboxes or cavatives excavated by Northern flickers. Egg laying occurs in May and females incubate and care for the young alone. About one day after hatching, she leads them to water so that they can forage for food. |
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