{{Short description|Species of bird}} {{Speciesbox | name = Bufflehead | image = Drake_Bufflehead_LBI_(cropped).png | image_caption = Male | image2 = Bucephala-albeola-010.jpg | image2_caption = Female | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name="iucn status">{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2022 |title=''Bucephala albeola'' |article-number=e.T22680462A137784330 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2022-1.RLTS.T22680462A137784330.en}}</ref> | genus = Bucephala | species = albeola | authority = (Linnaeus, 1758) | synonyms = *''Anas albeola'' {{small|Linnaeus, 1758}} *''Charitonetta albeola'' {{small|(Linnaeus, 1758)}} | range_map = Bucephala albeola map.svg | range_map_caption = {{leftlegend|#FF7F2A|Breeding}}{{leftlegend|#FFDD55|Migration}}{{leftlegend|#7137C8|Year-round}}{{leftlegend|#5F8DD3|Nonbreeding}} }}
The '''bufflehead''' ('''''Bucephala albeola''''') is a small sea duck of the genus ''Bucephala'', the goldeneyes. It breeds in Alaska and Canada and migrates in winter to southern North America. This species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'' as ''Anas albeola''.
==Taxonomy== The bufflehead was formally described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his ''Systema Naturae'' under the binomial name ''Anas albeola''.<ref>{{cite book | last=Linnaeus | first=Carl | author-link=Carl Linnaeus | year=1758 | title= Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis | volume=1 | edition=10th | page=124 | publisher=Laurentii Salvii | location=Holmiae (Stockholm) | language=Latin | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/727029 }}</ref> Linnaeus based his account on the "little black and white duck" that had been described in 1747 by the English naturalist George Edwards in the second volume of his ''A Natural History of Uncommon Birds''. Edwards examined a specimen from Newfoundland provided by the archivist George Holmes (archivist), the deputy Keeper of Records in the Tower of London.<ref>{{ cite book | last=Edwards | first=George | author-link=George Edwards (naturalist) | year=1747 | title=A Natural History of Uncommon Birds | location=London | publisher=Printed for the author at the College of Physicians | volume=2 | page=100, Plate 100 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/50240850 }}</ref> Linnaeus specified the type locality as America, but this has been restricted to Newfoundland following Edwards.<ref>{{ cite book | editor1-last=Mayr | editor1-first=Ernst | editor1-link=Ernst Mayr | editor2-last=Cottrell | editor2-first=G. William | year=1979 | title=Check-List of Birds of the World | volume=1 | edition=2nd | publisher=Museum of Comparative Zoology | place=Cambridge, Massachusetts | page=496 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/16109136 }}</ref> The bufflehead is now placed with two goldeneye species in the genus ''Bucephala'' that was introduced in 1858 by the American naturalist Spencer Baird. The genus name is derived from Ancient Greek {{wikt-lang|grc|βουκέφαλος}} {{Transliteration|grc|bouképhalos}}, {{gloss|bullheaded}}, from {{Transliteration|grc|boûs}} {{gloss|bull}}, and {{Transliteration|grc|kephalḗ}}, {{gloss|head}}, a reference to the oddly bulbous head shape of the species. The species name ''albeola'' is a diminutive of Latin {{lang|la|albus}} meaning {{gloss|white}}.<ref>{{cite book | last=Jobling | first=James A. | year=2010| title=The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | publisher=Christopher Helm | location=London | isbn=978-1-4081-2501-4 | pages=[https://archive.org/stream/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling#page/n79/mode/1up 79], [https://archive.org/stream/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling#page/n38/mode/1up 38]}}</ref>
The modern species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.<ref name=ioc>{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela C. Rasmussen | date=December 2023 | title=Screamers, ducks, geese & swans | work=IOC World Bird List Version 14.1 | url=http://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/waterfowl/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=1 July 2024 }}</ref> The extinct subspecies ''Bucephala albeola fossilis'' from the Late Pleistocene of California was originally described as a distinct extinct species, but is now considered to belong within the Bufflehead.<ref>{{cite journal |first=Guthrie |last=Daniel A.| year= 2010 | title=Avian material from Rancho del Oro, a Pleistocene locality in San Diego County, California |journal=Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences| volume=109 | issue=1 | pages=1–7 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/292054 | doi=10.3160/0038-3872-109.1.1}}</ref>
==Description== The bufflehead ranges from {{convert|32|–|40|cm|in|abbr=on}} long and weighs {{convert|270|–|550|g|oz|abbr=on}}, with the drakes larger than the females. Averaging {{convert|35.5|cm|in|abbr=on}} and {{convert|370|g|oz|abbr=on}}, it rivals the green-winged teal as the smallest American duck. The bufflehead has a wingspan of 21.6 in (55 cm).<ref>{{Cite web|title=Bufflehead Identification, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology|url=https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Bufflehead/id|access-date=2020-09-26|website=www.allaboutbirds.org|language=en}}</ref>
Adult males are striking black and white, with iridescent green and purple heads and a large white patch behind the eye. Females are grey-toned with a smaller white patch behind the eye and a light underside.<ref name="Lippson">{{cite book | last = Lippson | first = Alice Jane |author2=Lippson, Robert L. | title = Life in the Chesapeake Bay | publisher = JHU Press | year = 1997 | page = 253 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=SADdrFVym2cC&pg=PA253 | isbn =0-8018-5475-X}}</ref>
==Distribution and habitat== They are migratory and most of them winter in protected coastal waters, or open inland waters, on the east and west coasts of North America and the southern United States. They can also be observed wintering on the Great Lakes. The bufflehead is an extremely rare vagrant to western Europe and an occasional vagrant to the Caribbean with records from Cuba, the Bahamas, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, United States Virgin Islands, Saint Martin, and Curaçao.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Beasley |first=Victoria Mae |date=2025-11-17 |title=First record of Bucephala albeola (Bufflehead) for the U.S. Virgin Islands |url=https://jco.birdscaribbean.org/ |journal=Journal of Caribbean Ornithology |language=en |volume=38 |pages=67–69 |doi=10.55431/jco.2025.38.67-69 |issn=1544-4953|doi-access=free }}</ref> Their breeding habitat is wooded lakes and ponds in Alaska and Canada, almost entirely included in the boreal forest or taiga habitat. From 1966 to 2015, the bufflehead experienced a >1.5% yearly population increase throughout its breeding range.<ref>{{cite web |title=BBS Trend Maps - Bufflehead Bucephala albeola |url=https://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/bbs/tr2015/trend2015_v3.html |website=USGS |publisher=US Department of the Interior |access-date=2021-02-18}}</ref>
==Behavior== thumb|right|Male flying in California [[File:Bucephala albeola MHNT.ZOO.2010.11.17.1.jpg|thumb| ''Bucephala albeola'' - MHNT]]
Buffleheads have evolved their small size to fit the nesting cavity of their "metabiotic" host, a woodpecker, the northern flicker.<ref name=Gauthier>Gauthier, G. 1993. Bufflehead, ''Bucephala albeola''. The Birds of North America. (67), 24 pages. Edited by A. Poole and F. Gill, The Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia.</ref> Due to their small size, they are highly active, undertaking dives almost continuously while sustained by their high metabolism. They do not tend to collect in large flocks; groups are usually limited to small numbers. One duck serves as a sentry, watching for predators as the others in the group dive in search of food.<ref name="Lippson"/> Buffleheads are amongst the last waterfowl to leave their breeding grounds and one of the world's most punctual migrants, arriving on their wintering grounds within a narrow margin of time.<ref>Finley, J.K. 2007. The punctual Bufflehead, ''Bucephala albeola'': autumn arrivals in Shoal Harbour Sanctuary, Vancouver Island, in relation to freeze-up. Canadian Field-Naturalist 121:370-374.</ref>
===Breeding=== Buffleheads are monogamous ducks.<ref name=Gauthier/> They nest in cavities in trees, primarily aspens or poplars, using mostly old flicker nests,<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Bufflehead Overview, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology |url=https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Bufflehead/overview |access-date=2025-07-08 |website=www.allaboutbirds.org |language=en}}</ref> close (usually < {{convert|25|m|ft|abbr=on}}) to water. Nest competitors include mountain bluebird (''Sialia currucoides''), tree swallow (''Tachycineta bicolor''), and European starling. There was one recorded instance of a female Barrow's goldeneye killing a bufflehead adult female and her brood. Smaller cavities are preferred because of less competition with the larger goldeneyes. Females may be killed on the nest by mammals, such as foxes (''Vulpes'' and ''Urocyon'' sp.), weasels (''Mustela'' and ''Neogale'' sp.) or mink (''Neogale vison''), and by goldeneyes over nest competition.{{Citation needed|date=July 2025}} In the summer, the ducks have breeding grounds near lakes in the boreal forest and aspen parklands of central Canada.<ref name=":0" />
Average clutch size is nine (range six to 11), and eggs average {{convert|50.5|by|36.3|mm|in|abbr=on}}.<ref name=Gauthier/> Incubation averages 30 days, and nest success is high (79% in one study) compared to ground-nesting species like the teal. A day after the last duckling hatches, the brood leaps from the nest cavity. The young fledge at 50–55 days of age.<ref name=Erskine>Erskine, A. J. 1972. Buffleheads. Canadian Wildlife Service Monograph Series #4. Information Canada, Ottawa. 240 pages</ref> Predators of adults include the peregrine falcon (''Falco peregrinus''), snowy owl (''Bubo scandiacus''), bald eagle (''Haliaeetus leucocephalus''), golden eagle (''Aquila chrysaetos''), red-tailed hawk (''Buteo jamaicensis''), great horned owl (''Bubo virginianus''), and Cooper's hawk (''Astur cooperii'').
===Diet=== These diving birds forage underwater. They prefer water depths of {{convert|1.2|-|4.5|m|ft|abbr=on}}.<ref name="Lippson"/> In freshwater habitats, they eat primarily insects, and in saltwater, they feed predominantly on crustaceans and mollusks. Aquatic plants and fish eggs can often become locally important food items, as well.
==Relationship with humans== Because of their striking plumage, highly active nature, and proximity to humans on waterfront properties, buffleheads are one of the most popular birds amongst bird watchers.<ref name=Erskine/> The bufflehead, also known as the spirit duck, was added to the coat of arms of the town of Sidney, British Columbia, in 1995.<ref name='city of sidney'>{{cite web | url = http://www.sidney.ca/Residents/About_Sidney/Town_Crest___Flag.htm | title = Town Crest & Flag | access-date = 2013-10-19 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131020074943/http://www.sidney.ca/Residents/About_Sidney/Town_Crest___Flag.htm | archive-date = 2013-10-20 }}</ref> Buffleheads are hunted and are considered a gamebird. In contrast to many other seaducks that have declined in recent decades, bufflehead numbers have remained relatively constant.<ref name=Gauthier/>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/buffle/cur/introduction Bufflehead at Birds of the World Online] *[https://www.birdweb.org/birdweb/bird/bufflehead BirdWeb.Org: Bufflehead] *[https://www.borealbirds.org/bird/bufflehead Bufflehead at Boreal Birds] *[https://birdnote.org/podcasts/birdnote-daily/buffleheads-winter Buffleheads in Winter] Birdnote Archives, KPLU, 7 December 2009. * [https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Bufflehead Bufflehead Species Account] – Cornell Lab of Ornithology * [https://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/i1530id.html Bufflehead – ''Bucephala albeola''] – USGS Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter * {{EBirdSpecies|buffle|Bufflehead}} * {{VIREO|Bufflehead|Bufflehead}} * {{IUCN_Map|22680462/137784330|Bucephala albeola}}
{{Taxonbar |from=Q576762}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Bucephala (bird) Category:Native birds of Alaska Category:Birds of Canada Category:Native birds of the Northwestern United States Category:Birds described in 1758 Category:Animal taxa named by Carl Linnaeus