Bufflehead

1/2500s at f5.6, ISO:800, Canon EOS-1D X w/800mm


The Bufflehead is a small American sea duck. 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. The Bufflehead is an extremely rare vagrant to western Europe. Their breeding habitat is wooded lakes and ponds in Alaska and Canada, almost entirely included in the boreal forest or taiga habitat. Buffleheads are monogamous, and the females return to the same breeding site, year after year. They nest in cavities in trees, primarily aspens or poplars, using mostly old Flicker nests, close to water. Average clutch size is 9 eggs. Incubation averages 30 days, and nest success is high (79 % in one study). A day after the last duckling hatches the brood leaps from the nest cavity. The young fledge at 50 - 55 days of age. These diving birds forage underwater. 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.
Prospect Park, Colorado
 
01/09/2013