BUFFLEHEAD 

 ( Bucephala albeola ) 



[DA: Amerikansk Hvinand, DU: Buf f elkopeend , EN: Buf fel-headed Duck, FI: Pikku- 

 telkka, FR: Garrot albeole, GE: Buf f elkopfente , IC: Hjalraond, IT: Quattrocchi 

 americano, JA: Hime hijiro, PO: Gagol raalutki , RU: (Small Goldeneye) , SP: Por- 

 ron albeola, Pato cabeza clara; SW: Buffelhuvud] 



GENERAL DISTRIBUTION 



North America Buffleheads breed from central Alaska, the Yukon Territory, 

 and British Columbia eastward through the forested portions of Canada to Ontar- 

 io, and perhaps to the Ungava Peninsula. The main range extends south into the 

 United States only in Montana, Idaho, and North Dakota, but there are isolated 

 breeding populations in the mountains of several western states (Erskine 1972), 

 as well as a recent breeding record from central Idaho (Lannoy and Sakaguchi 

 1979). There are old records from beyond the primary present range (AOU 1957, 

 Palmer 1976b). 



In winter, Buffleheads are found from the Aleutian Islands south along the 

 Pacific coast to northern Mexico, along the Atlantic coast from Newfoundland, 

 Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick to the northern portions of Florida, and along 

 the Gulf coast to Tamaulipas, Mexico (AOU 1957, Palmer 1976b). Buffleheads 

 also winter in the interior of North America on open water from the Great Lakes 

 southwest to the central interior highlands of Mexico (Palmer 1976b). 



World Distribution The Bufflehead is a Nearctic species, and records out- 

 side of North America represent stagglers. The most common extralimital records 

 come from the Komandorskiye Islands and the Kamchatka Peninsula in the western 

 U.S.S.R. during fall and winter. Individuals have also been reported as far 

 south in the Pacific as the Kuril Islands, Japan, and Hawaii (Palmer 1976b). 

 To the southeast, Buffleheads have straggled to Bermuda, Puerto Rico, Cuba, 

 and Jamaica (Palmer 1976b), and to the northeast and east have wandered to 

 Greenland, Britain, Czechoslovakia (Palmer 1976b), and Iceland (Cramp et al. 

 1977). 



DISTRIBUTION IN THE COASTAL SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES 



North Carolina Buffleheads are winter residents in North Carolina, where 

 they are usually found in small groups on lakes or other open water (Pearson et 

 al. 1942). They are present from November through April or May and are more 

 common along the coast than inland (Potter et al. 1980). Bellrose (1976) re- 

 ported that about 7,100 Buffleheads were seen in North Carolina on winter water- 

 fowl surveys (1955-1974), making this state the most important wintering ground 

 along the southeastern Atlantic coast. The 1975 winter waterfowl survey report- 

 ed 3,000 Buffleheads (Goldsberry et al. 1980); about 3,800 were believed to have 

 been killed there during the preceding hunting season (Larned et al. 1980). 

 Large congregations are occasionally recorded. Pearson et al. (1942) noted the 



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