Bufflehead - Ross Feldner Buffleheads are North America’s smallest diving duck. The name "buffle" is French for "bulging." Buffleheads probably got this name because of their large, bulbous head, which is much larger in proportion to their body than that of other ducks. Buffleheads are secondary cavity nesters meaning they occupy holes excavated by other birds such as Northern Flickers and Pileated Woodpeckers. Some believe their small size may be an evolutionary response to nesting in tiny cavities. They have an abrupt feeding habit, suddenly disappearing for seconds in a quick dive and just as suddenly reappearing some distance away. They dive for crustaceans and mollusks but also eat insects, fish eggs and aquatic plants. Buffleheads breed in Alaska and Canada and migrate in winter to protected coastal waters, or open inland waters. They are one of the world's most punctual migrants, arriving on their wintering grounds within a narrow margin of time. Habitat degradation is the major threat to this bird, since they depend on very limited coastal habitat for their wintering grounds, and very specific habitat in their boreal breeding grounds. | |
