 Breeding evidence |
 Relative abundance |
 Probability of observation |
Click for a larger version or to add map overlays |
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Click on plot to view table of mean abundance
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Number of squares
Long-term BBS trends
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3.0 (1.22 - 4.69)|
Mean abundance (number of birds detected per 5 min. point count) and percentage of squares occupied by region Bird Conservation Regions [abund. plot]
[%squares plot]
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Atlas Results
Atlas results coming soon
Note: During all years of the Saskatchewan Breeding Bird Atlas drought conditions persisted and the Atlas range maps for all waterfowl, waterbirds, and wetland-associated species should be viewed as characteristic of distribution and abundance during dry conditions. Read the full drought statement here.
Excerpts Adapted from the Birds of Saskatchewan:
Its common name, a contraction of "buffalo-head,? refers to its relatively large head with puffed-out feathers . The smallest diving duck in North America, the Bufflehead's size may have evolved in response to an abundant resource: nest holes excavated by Northern Flickers that were too small for larger cavity-nesting ducks (Gerrard et al. 1996). They breed in the Rocky Mountains from central Alaska south to northern California and Colorado, and in the boreal forest east to Quebec and south to the northeastern US. They winter from coastal Alaska, the Great Lakes, and the Maritimes south to the Mexican border.
Buffleheads nest in forests, woodlands, and riparian habitat with deciduous trees large enough to support the holes of the larger woodpecker species, preferably near permanent ponds and small lakes. They are rare breeders in the grasslands because of the general absence of suitable nesting trees.
The Bufflehead is a common summer resident near woodland lakes of the boreal forest, uncommon and local in the aspen parkland, uncommon in the subarctic region, and rare in the grassland region (Teo and Prairie View Lakes); nesting is undocumented for the Cypress Hills (Smith 1996). Small numbers summer south of the breeding range. In the western boreal shield and the boreal plains ecozones, Bufflehead populations have remained stable over the long term despite considerable year-to-year variation (Fast et al. 2011).
Original text by Mark Bidwell. Text adapted by Daniel J. Sawatzky
Read more about the Bufflehead in the Birds of Saskatchewan here.
Recommended citation: Latremouille, L. M. 2025. Bufflehead in Latremouille, L. M., S. L. Van Wilgenburg, C. B. Jardine, D. Lepage, A. R. Couturier, D. Evans, D. Iles, and K. L. Drake (eds.). 2025. The Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Saskatchewan, 2017-2021. Birds Canada. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan https://sk.birdatlas.ca/accounts/speciesaccount.jsp?sp=BUFF&lang=en [09 Nov 2025]
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