Although the bufflehead is the smallest North American duck, males are very visible in their breeding plumage (October to May) with white bodies and a large white patch on the back of their heads.  In the winter, buffleheads form small flocks on lakes, bays and slow moving rivers.  They dive energetically for aquatic insects and other invertebrates.   In the Wenatchee River basin, buffleheads are most abundant during the winter, when birds from Alaska and Canada winter in Washington.  Easy places to see them are at Confluence State Park and at the Leavenworth National Fish Hatchery.

Males begin courtship displays in the winter which include head-bobbing, wing-lifting, and short display flights.  Buffleheads nest around lakes and ponds in mixed coniferous and deciduous forest, burned areas, and aspen groves, usually within 650 feet of water.  They nest within natural or woodpecker-excavated cavities, and are small enough to use the old holes of northern flickers.  Although not nearly as common in the Wenatchee River basin during the breeding season, they can be found in the upper part of the basin in large river pools or lakes.  Good places to see them then are in the lake above Tumwater dam or in Fish Lake.