This is one good looking duck. Cute as a button and so energetic you can’t take your eyes off it. The Bufflehead Duck is a winter resident of the Chesapeake Bay. It arrives late October or early November. In the spring, it leaves for its breeding grounds in Canada, Alaska and the northern continental US around mid April.

Pictured is the male duck, the drake. The female has a grayish-brown head, back and wings. A little drab in comparison, but they do have a white chest and a white patch on the wings.

During the winter months Buffleheads congregate in small flocks. They are constantly moving and diving. As a diving duck, they prefer relatively shallow water, from 4 to 15 feet deep where they hunt for small fish, crustaceans, mollusks, and grasses and seeds. They spend a lot of time underwater, diving and coming up many feet distant.

They are small ducks growing to about 15 inches with a wingspan of 24 inches. Unlike other ducks that need a “running” start to take off from the surface of the water, the little Bubblehead just bursts into the air. On the Chesapeake, the winter flocks fly in unison just above the surface of the water often looking like a flock of low flying Starlings.

This small American sea duck got its name from its oddly shaped bulbous head which is even more noticeable then the drake puffs out the feathers on his head during courtship. The original “buffalo”-head was slurred to become Bufflehead.

Bufflehead ducks take advantage of their small size and fit nicely in the nesting cavities of previously owned woodpecker holes, especially those of the Northern Flicker. Their size also allows them to be highly active. They tend to collect in small groups with one duck serving as a sentry while the others dive for food.

Bufflehead Ducks are monogamous and they return to the same breeding site yearly. They nest in cavities in trees (old Flicker nests,) primarily aspen or poplar, close to water. The average clutch size is 9 eggs with an 80% survival rate. They leave the nest one day after the last duckling hatches, leaping from the nest cavity. The young fledge in 6 or 7 weeks.

Despite predators like the Bald Eagle, Peregrine Falcon, Snowy Owl and the occasional human duck hunter, the Bufflehead Sea Duck population is healthy and has been constant over the years. This delightful little duck is a wonder to watch on a warm winter’s day near the shore on the Chesapeake Bay.

For more articles on the Chesapeake Bay by this author, see: The Chesapeake , The Sea Nettle ,  The Barnacle ,  The Blue Crab ,  The Oyster  ,  The Eagle ,  The Great Blue Heron ,  The Osprey

© 2010 Consumer Guide by David Sullivan