Click photo to see complete painting

American Black Duck

Status Common resident. Breeds. Its distribution is fairly general except in winter, when concentrations occur at coastal areas, particularly along the Southwestern Shore where feeding conditions are more favourable.

Description Length: 53-61 cm. Adults: Head and body mainly dark brown, the feathers bordered and marked with buff; underparts paler; crown, nape, and line through the eye dark brown; rest of head and neck noticeably paler than body; purple wing patch bordered in front and behind with black, usually with a thin, white line on the edge of the outer border; legs greenish yellow, orange or red-orange, the season, sex and age being determining factors; bill greenish yellow in the male, olive-green in the female. A good distinguishing mark of the Black Duck in flight is the contrast of its white wing linings with its darker body.

Breeding Nest: Composed of grass and coarse vegetation, with a lining of down taken from the breast of the parent bird. The nest is usually on the ground, well concealed by protective plant growth, but on rare occasions it is located in a hollow tree or even in an old nest of a hawk or crow perhaps such unusual sites are chosen to avoid loss of nests from flooding. Laying begins in late March and continues for several weeks. Eggs: 7-12, usually 8-10; pale greenish blue or creamy buff. A nest containing 11 practically fresh eggs was found at Gaspereau, Kings County, on 10 April 1932; and another containing 12 slightly incubated eggs was discovered at Albany, Annapolis County, on 17 May 1930. A female followed by downy young was seen near Wolfville on 17 May 1951. The nest is usually placed near water but one found on Wolfville Ridge on 18 April 1929 was approximately 1.5 km from water.

Range Breeds from northern Saskatchewan, northern Ontario, northern Quebec, Labrador and Newfoundland, south to South Dakota and North Carolina. Winters from southern Ontario and the Maritime Provinces to the southern United States.

Remarks American Black Ducks usually feed on the surface or by tipping. An exception was noted at the Kentville Bird Sanctuary on 4 October 1940, when one dived repeatedly and remained underwater for 10-20 seconds. In autumn they consume grain lost at harvest time, and seeds of many kinds of aquatic plants, as well as the plants themselves. One shot on Boot Island, Kings County, on 15 December 1941 contained 100 or more amphipod shrimps identified as probably Orchestia grillus by Francis M. Uhler of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

If a mother is killed or forcibly separated from her brood, another Black Duck with ducklings of her own, regardless of their age, will quickly adopt the orphans. To effect such an adoption, locate a mother with a brood and simply turn the orphans loose in the vicinity, on the water if feasible. When their sharp, piercing calls are heard, the response is likely to be immediate as the foster mother goes straight to them, answering their appeals with a series of low, seductive quacks. l have had the pleasure of effecting three such adoptions.

Formerly, two races of this species were recognized by ornithologists. The "Red legged Black Duck" was supposed to range further north in summer than the other. It was later found that the red legs and yellow bill of this supposed northerner were merely a matter of age and season, so the two subspecies were merged (Shortt 1943).