American Black Duck 1/29/10
About the same size as, and closely related to the Mallard with whom they regularly interbreed, American Black Ducks are dark, chubby, dabbling ducks that will also graze on land. They have a very dark bodies, lighter neck and heads, bright orange feet, and a violet blue speculum (wing patch). The males, like the one in the middle above, have yellow bills while the females on either side have grey-green bills. Females are also slightly lighter. To tell them apart from other drab dabbling ducks, note that the iridescent speculum is not bordered in white like Mallards. Blacks are popular game ducks, and are found in eastern North America. They’re year round residents in New England but in winter their numbers swell with northern migrants as many prefer salt water wetlands during the cold months. I fetched these three yesterday in some large puddles at Fort Foster, mixed in with a small group of Mallards.
