The Bufflehead is North America's smallest diving duck, a compact, buoyant bird that bobs on cold open water and vanishes in quick, energetic dives. The drake looks almost cartoonishly crisp: a glossy dark head puffed up and set off by a big white wedge wrapping behind the eye, over a snow-white body. The female is a modest gray-brown with a neat oval white spot on the cheek. Their big-headed silhouette gives them their old name, a nod to "buffalo-head."
Buffleheads breed in the boreal forest, nesting almost exclusively in old Northern Flicker holes, and they visit Michigan as migrants and winter residents. From fall through spring they scatter across lakes, rivers, and the Great Lakes bays in small, active groups, diving for aquatic insects and crustaceans. Restless and quick to flush, a raft of Buffleheads seems constantly in motion, half the flock underwater at any moment while the rest keep watch.
Dives for aquatic invertebrates — insect larvae, crustaceans, and mollusks — in fresh water, adding some seeds and small fish. On the Great Lakes and larger waters it takes more mollusks and crustaceans. It feeds in short, frequent dives and swallows most prey underwater.
It is a very small, round-bodied diving duck. The drake has a puffy dark head with a big white patch behind the eye and a bright white body; the female is gray-brown with a small white cheek spot. Both dive constantly.
In tree cavities in the boreal forest, almost always old Northern Flicker holes, which fit their small size. They do not breed in most of Michigan — they visit as migrants and winter birds.
From fall through early spring on open lakes, rivers, and Great Lakes bays. They are absent in summer, returning as the weather cools and the northern lakes freeze.
Females and first-year males have only a small white cheek smudge on a dark head. Young males take most of a year to develop the adult's broad white wedge and iridescent purple-green sheen.
A raft. Buffleheads keep loose, small rafts and dive almost in unison, so a group can seem to vanish from the water and reappear a moment later.
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