The Birders Report

Bufflehead Pair (Bucephala albeola) photos by Larry Jordan

Why do I love Buffleheads (Bucephala albeola)? Just saying their name is enjoyable. BUFFLEHEAD. Go ahead, say it out loud BUFF-L-HEAD. 😀 (Click on photos for full sized images).

Most people, I guess, think they’re just another black and white bird. I mean, if you look at the photograph above, you will see the lovely female Bufflehead in the foreground with her mate behind her looking rather dapper. Here’s a better shot of a female.

But if you get the right light on the drake, he can show you some real color!

Yeah, that’s what I’m talkin’ about! This ain’t no run-of-the-mill black and white duck! Although you can see why folks think he is. It all depends on the light.

Another reason I love these ducks is that they are a blast to watch. The way they forage in groups…

they take a little forward and upward leap before plunging into the water, then following their dive, bob up to the surface like so many corks.

The Bufflehead (I love saying that) is North America’s smallest diving duck, but don’t let their size fool you. They are aggressive little ducks.

Take a look at this video showing some of their courtship displays.

Buffleheads are almost exclusively monogamous, keeping the same mate for several years. They are also cavity nesters, breeding primarily in the Boreal forests of Canada and a few other places in the U.S. in cavities created by the Northern Flicker¹.

That blue spot in northern California is Lassen Volcanic National Park where I have seen the female Bufflehead searching for nest sites.

So what’s not to love about these little bundles of energy? Nothing!

Here’s another look at the drake as he comes up from one of those dips.

If you want to see more cool birds from all over the world, check out Dave Springman’s World Bird Wednesday and submit your own bird photos!

References: ¹Birds of North America Online

Acorn Woodpecker (Melanerpes formicivorus) Male photos by Larry Jordan

After the rains we had last week, I checked on the bird feeders and found some wet Nut and Fruit Mix in the woodpecker feeder so I emptied it into the tray feeder for whoever might want it and filled the woodpecker feeder with fresh food.

I went back to working on the other chores needing to be done around the house (you know how that goes) until I heard a raucous going on in the yard. Four Acorn Woodpeckers had dive bombed and chased a Western Gray Squirrel away from the tray feeder.

This is what the squirrel looked like when it was eating out of the tray feeder daily last May (click on photos for full sized images).

By the time I saw what was going on, the squirrel had high tailed it far from the bird feeders and the Acorn Woodpeckers had taken over the tray feeder.

There were several woodpeckers at the feeder so I grabbed my camera and took a chore break to catch some of the action on film. As I watched the woodpeckers, they were taking mostly peanuts (like the female pictured above) and transporting them to the nearby rocks to stash them for later.

To see Acorn Woodpeckers stash acorns is not unusual around here. There are plenty of granary trees in the vicinity where acorns are constantly being stored and monitored buy the woodpecker community, but I had never seen them stashing food in the crevices of rock formations.

It was fun watching them go back and forth from the feeder to the rocks and seemingly search the rocks for places to store their treasure.

I never saw the squirrel come back to the feeder that day. The Acorn Woodpeckers dominated that food source.

If you want to see more great bird photos from around the world, go check out Springman’s World Bird Wednesday! And while you’re here, if you use Google Friend Connect, please consider joining my website via the widget in the right hand column of my blog and I will join yours in return.  Thanks for the visit!

For the second year Nature Conservancy is asking folks to gift responsibly. This Cyber Monday, give a gift that’s good for the planet. Click on the logo above to sign the pledge to gift responsibly this year. There are so many ways you can do this and Nature Conservancy has several ideas on their website.

One of the best ways I know of to help conservation efforts is to gift someone a membership in a conservation organization like Nature Conservancy, National Audubon Society,  American Bird Conservancy, Sierra Club, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), Conservation International, Earth Island Institute or Wildlife Conservation Society. These organizations all have gift memberships for everyone on your gift list.

Most conservation organizations also have products that you can purchase as gifts with the proceeds going toward their efforts.