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The Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola) is a bird found in United States and Canada. Lakes in Canada in summer; coasts and ponds in winter. It eats insects and other small invertebrates, fish and seeds and nuts. The IUCN Red List lists it as Least Concern.

🏡 Where the Bufflehead lives

Lakes in Canada in summer; coasts and ponds in winter.

🍽️ What it eats

• 🐛 Insects & bugs70%
• 🐟 Fish20%
• 🌰 Seeds & nuts10%

A rough guide to its diet over a year. Source: EltonTraits (Wilman et al. 2014).

Conservation status

Hear the Bufflehead

Recorded by Paul Marvin (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0), xeno-canto XC361920. Trimmed to a few seconds.

Questions about the Bufflehead

Where does the Bufflehead live?

The Bufflehead lives in United States and Canada. Lakes in Canada in summer; coasts and ponds in winter.

What does the Bufflehead eat?

insects and other small invertebrates (about 70%), fish (about 20%), seeds and nuts (about 10%). These are rough shares of its diet over a year, from the EltonTraits database.

Is the Bufflehead endangered?

There are plenty of these birds. Its IUCN Red List category is Least Concern.

More birds from North America

• Eastern wood pewee
• Great-tailed grackle
• Golden-crowned kinglet
• Blackburnian warbler
• Great crested flycatcher
• Black phoebe

Sources: IUCN Red List (via Wikidata), EltonTraits 1.0 (Wilman et al. 2014), GBIF sightings for countries, Wikipedia. Last updated 2026-10-19.