The American Black Duck is a medium to large-sized dabbling duck which is found in eastern North America in ponds and marshes.   An adult is about 16 inches in length with a wingspan of 36 inches.

The American Black Duck is named for its dark (not black, however) plumage
but it gets its scientific name, Anas rubripes, from the color of its red-orange legs.
This duck is a chocolate brown with a paler brownish neck and dark brown cap and eye lines.

In flight the black duck displays bright silver-white underwings.
Its speculums (wing patches) are dark purplish without any border markings.
The similarly plumed female mallard has white borders along its speculums on each wing.
The male black duck’s bill is greenish-yellow and the female’s is a darker olive color with black patches.
The male’s legs are redder than the females.
The female black duck offers a loud quack while her partner utters softer more reedy notes.

Their nests are usually near the water but nests have been discovered as much as a mile from any water.
The nests are close to the ground and are really just a depression lined with plant material and feathers.
Tree cavities are sometimes used for nesting.
The female black duck lays 7-11 greenish-buff eggs; but in rare cases there are as few a 4 and as many as 17.
In about 30 days the young hatch with downy feathers and they can swim and feed themselves almost immediately.

Black ducks feed by dabbling (as opposed to diving) in shallow water or grazing on land.
Their diet consists of plants mostly but they could take small mollusks and aquatic insects.

In the 1950’s the black duck population started to decline.   It is believed that there are now only 50% as many black ducks as before the middle of twentieth century. The Audubon Society estimates the population at 910,000.   Interbreeding with their close relatives, mallards and loss of winter habitat and are reasons cited for the decline.

Coastal salt marshes are considered the most important wintering habitat for black ducks.
Degradation from ditching and development has reduced the number of wintering locations as well as food resources.

The elimination of many of their preferred winter habitats has pushed the black ducks into mallard territories,
thereby establishing the opportunity for interbreeding.
Furthermore, decades ago mallards didn’t generally inhabit salt marsh areas in the winter
but as their numbers increased their winter ranges spread to include coastal salt marsh areas.

Since courtship begins in the winter, and black ducks and mallards are more likely to be in the same locale than they were 50 years ago,
interbreeding has become more prevalent. In one study of the hybridization of black ducks, it was noted that mallards began their courtship
before black ducks and after the mallards were paired up the unpaired mallard drakes joined the black duck courtship groups.

Increased predation of ducks by the foxes and feral cats that now populate coastal salt marsh areas is affecting the numbers of black ducks,
both pure and hybridized.

PLEASE!
Preserve and Protect our Beaches.

Thanks to Sallie Phillips , 1 / 2007

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