Bufflehead

(Bucephala albeola) Bufflehead, short term for (Buffalo-Head). Commonly known as the butterballs of North American waterfowl. Dating back to 500,000 years ago lie fossil remains of these little divers in Alaska, California, Illinois, Texas, Kansas, and Washington. Generally living in North America, yet some occasionally arrive in Iceland, Japan, and Greenland. Buffleheads are native to North America. "Buffleheads have an extensive breeding range, with particularly high densities across the boreal regions of British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan, and the sub-arctic deltas including the Athabasca and Slave River parklands" (Gauthier, G. 1993). A few breeding grounds can be found locate in the northern parts of the United States. Their general populations spend most of their migration and winter time on two opposite sides of the U.S, the west coast and the east coast congregating in protected bays and estuaries. Unlike many ducks, buffleheads are one of a few species that remain monogamous. And return to the same nesting site year after year. While breeding pairs gather together they perform a courtship behavior that expedites the breeding activity. While courtship occurs, the males bob their heads and fly over the females for them to recognize their brilliant black and white underside and their bright pink legs. He then lowers his landing gear…

wood duck and dabbling ducks are anatomical adaptations that allow the wood duck to take advantage of its preferred habitat, bottomland hardwood forests. Wood ducks will be considered with dabbling ducks for the remainder of this paper, but it is important to recognize the different classifications. Other North American species that will not be considered in detail in this paper but are worth mentioning because of their dependence on tree cavities for nesting include the black-bellied…

spreading and melting over New England, had shifted bedrock and soil, leaving great trails of debris. They had created marshes and the bay, dunes and moraines. They had shaped the current shore. If her first three books memorialized New England through towns and universities, monuments and cemeteries, lighthouses and landmarks, The Lowland conveys the centuries-old spirit of the maritime region through nature: the quality of its light, the striated patterns of soil and sand, little-known islands…