American Black Duck
From WikiBird
Contents |
Size
Length: ??cm (??in), Wingspan: ??cm (??in)
Field Marks
Both sexes have a shiny purple-blue wing patch, which is not bordered with white as with the Mallard. Pale gray-brown face, dark brown cap and eye line, dark brown breast, belly, back and upper wing, purple speculum without white borders, bright silvery wing linings. Male: Greenish-yellow bill, a dark body, lighter head and neck, dark eyes, orange legs are sometimes bright red. Female: Greenish bill with black patches, legs generally orange. Immature: similar to adult.
Similar species
Female, immature and eclipse male Mallards are much paler, without contrast between head and body and with white borders to a blue speculum. Hybrid Mallard x Black Ducks are often seen and usually have traces of the mallard plumage, with bluer speculum usually bordered with white on one or both edges. Mottled Duck is similar, with broader brown edgings to upperparts and bluer speculum. Female Gadwalls have a steeper forehead, gray bill, white belly, and usually shows white in the wing. Black ducks interbreed regularly and extensively with Mallards.
Sounds
The voice is the same as the Mallard.
Feeding & Behavior
Feed by dabbling in shallow water, and grazing on land. Eat plants, but also some molluscs and aquatic insects.
Habitat & Nesting
Breeding habitat is lakes, ponds, rivers, marshes and other aquatic environments. The eggs are a greenish buff color. They lay from 6-14 eggs, and hatch in an average of 30 days.
Range
Breeds in eastern Canada including the Great Lakes. They are partially migratory and many winter in the east-central United States, especially coastal areas; some remain year-round in the Great Lakes region.è
Resources
