Bufflehead

Description
13-15". Small chubby duck, also known as the "Butterball." Male largely white, with black back, black head with greenish and purplish gloss, and large white patch from behind eye to top and back of head. Female all dark with single whitish patch on cheek. A fast flier with a rapid wingbeat.
Voice
Male has a squeaky whistle; female has a soft, hoarse quack.
Habitat
Breeds on wooded lakes and ponds; winters mainly on salt bays and estuaries.
Nesting
6-12 pale buff or ivory eggs in a mass of down placed in a woodpecker hole up to 20" above ground.
Other
A small relative of the two goldeneyes, the "Butteball" shares with them the habit of nesting in cavities in trees. In winter, it is one of the most familiar and easily identified ducks along the coast, where it travels in small parties, never forming large rafts like other diving ducks. Unlike its larger relatives, it makes no loud whistling sound in flight.
Picture
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