Bucephala albeola
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5% in a week ~10%
The bufflehead (Bucephala albeola) is a small sea duck of the genus Bucephala, the goldeneyes. It breeds in Alaska and Canada and migrates in winter to southern North America. This species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae as Anas albeola.
The bufflehead was formally described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Anas albeola. Linnaeus based his account on the "little black and white duck" that had been described in 1747 by the English naturalist George Edwards in the second volume of his A Natural History of Uncommon Birds. Edwards examined a specimen from Newfoundland provided by the archivist George Holmes (archivist), the deputy Keeper of Records in the Tower of London. Linnaeus specified the type locality as America, but this has been restricted to Newfoundland following Edwards. The bufflehead is now placed with two goldeneye species in the genus Bucephala that was introduced in 1858 by the American naturalist Spencer Baird. The genus name is derived from Ancient Greek βουκέφαλος bouképhalos, 'bullheaded', from boûs 'bull', and kephalḗ... Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ciudad Juárez | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 2 | Calgary | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 3 | Seattle | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Vancouver | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 5 | San Francisco | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Denver | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Toronto | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 8 | Portland | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Sacramento | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | San Diego | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Busch Gardens Tampa | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | San Diego Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | National Zoological Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Ecomuseum Zoo | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 5 | Bronx Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Milwaukee County Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Slimbridge Wetland Centre | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 8 | Antalya Zoo | 🇹🇷 Türkiye | |
| 9 | Oklahoma City Zoo and Botanical Garden | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Saint Louis Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 11 | Woodland Park Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 12 | Franklin Park Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 13 | Fort Worth Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 14 | Oregon Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 15 | Wilhelma | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 16 | Centro Cicogne e Anatidi | 🇮🇹 Italy | |
| 17 | Cologne Zoological Garden | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 18 | Akron Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 19 | Cleres Zoological Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 20 | Stone Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 21 | Tracy Aviary | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 22 | Aquarium of the Pacific | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 23 | Monterey Bay Aquarium | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 24 | National Aviary | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 25 | Texas Sealife Center | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 26 | Cologne Zoo Aquarium | 🇩🇪 Germany |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Bufflehead sighting in Big Bend National Park on a given day, based on 68 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 178th most-seen of the 270 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, and over a week to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January and March
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Bufflehead in Big Bend National Park on a given day, against under 5% in February and April–December, the lowest months. Those are among Big Bend National Park's driest months, with about 15 mm of rain a month against 50 mm in September.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Bufflehead sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
30th of 37
Of the 37 parks where we can rate Bufflehead sightings, Big Bend National Park ranks 30th at under 5%. The best odds are in Elk Island National Park (Canada, about 50%), Channel Islands National Park (United States, about 30%) and Riding Mountain National Park (Canada, about 30%). All parks ranked.
Same family: Anatidae
The closest relatives of the Bufflehead that you can see in Big Bend National Park (family Anatidae, Ducks, Geese, and Swans) are Mexican Duck (about 10%) and Blue-winged Teal (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Bufflehead is recorded against all the birds logged in Big Bend National Park (68 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
