Species: Bucephala albeola

Bufflehead

Species

Birds

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Puget Sound Partnership indicator species: birds

Salish Sea-reliant birds

Terrestrial vertebrates: birds

Encyclopedia of Puget Sound

Classification

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Craniata

Class

Aves

Order

Anseriformes

Family

Anatidae

Genus

Bucephala

NatureServe

Source:
ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.104714

Classification

Other Global Common Names

Pato Monja - petit garrot

Informal Taxonomy

Animals, Vertebrates - Birds - Waterfowl

Formal Taxonomy

Animalia - Craniata - Aves - Anseriformes - Anatidae - Bucephala

Ecology and Life History

Short General Description

A bird (duck).

Migration

false - false - true - Migrates northward February-April. Begins moving southward from October into November.

Non-migrant

false

Locally Migrant

false

Food Comments

In fresh water feeds on aquatic insects, snails, amphipods, small fishes, and some aquatic plants. In salt water eats crustaceans, molluscs, fishes, and some aquatic plants. Often feeds in small groups, diving or watching for danger.

Reproduction Comments

Breeding begins mid-May in south to early June in north (Harrison 1978). Clutch size 6-11 (avg. 7-9). Incubation 28-33 days, by female (Terres 1980). In British Columbia, mean hatching date is mid- to late June (Savard et al. 1991). Young tended by female, fly 50-55 days after hatching. First breeds at 2 yr.

Ecology Comments

Usually seen in small groups of twos or threes. Female strongly defends brood territory. In British Columbia, breeding density not limited by nest sites but rather by territorial behavior (Gauthier and Smith 1987); also, may be excluded from some ponds at high Barrow's goldeneye densities (Savard et al. 1991).

Length

Weight

473

Conservation Status

NatureServe Global Status Rank

Global Status Last Reviewed

1996-11-21

Global Status Last Changed

1996-11-21

Other Status

LC - Least concern

Distribution

Conservation Status Map

Global Range

H - >2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles) - H - BREEDING: central Alaska, Mackenzie Delta, northern Prairie Provinces, northern Ontario, south to northern Washington, northern Montana; locally south to the mountains of Oregon, northern California, and northern Colorado (Andrews and Righter 1992). NON-BREEDING: Aleutians, Alaska Peninsula, Great Lakes, New Brunswick and Newfoundland, south to Baja California, mainland Mexico, Gulf Coast, Florida; occasionally in Hawaii. The most abundant wintering populations include those around Vancouver Island, along the Atlantic coast from the Bay of Fundy to Chesapeake Bay, and in northern California-southern Oregon, Mississippi, eastern New Mexico (Root 1988).

Global Range Code

Global Range Description

>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)

ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.104714