According to the 1975 waterfowl count, 11.7% of the wintering population 

 was found in the southeast. Among the 41,600 birds counted there, North Caro- 

 lina's wintering population of 23,400 comprised by far the largest proportion 

 (56.3%). In the remaining states, 23.3% were found in South Carolina, 17.3% 

 in Alabama, 1.4% in Florida, 1.0% in Georgia, and 0.7% in Mississippi. None 

 were reported on the Texas and Louisiana counts (Goldsberry et al. 1980). 



Black Duck, populations have been steadily declining, so much so that the 

 species is now on the Blue List (Arbib 1979), a list that attempts to indicate 

 species becoming threatened or endangered. Winter surveys from 1955 to 1974 

 showed a decline in winter populations of slightly over 40% (Bellrose 1976). 

 The number recorded in the Atlantic Flyway during the 1975 mid-winter survey 

 (ca. 239,000) was the lowest on record (Goldsberry et al. 1980). The reasons 

 for this steady decrease are not adequately known but Bellrose (1976) believes 

 it is not due to loss of breeding habitat. Recent mid-winter counts show a 

 slight Increase in numbers wintering in the Mississippi Flyway (Goldsberry et 

 al. 1980, Larned et al . 1980). 



Migration Black Ducks are less migratory than many other North American 

 ducks, and some winter within their breeding range. The longest migrations are 

 made by northern interior populations that may winter even farther south than 

 the southern breeding populations (Palmer 1976a). Many postbreeding Black Ducks 

 have a premigratory movement westward into Manitoba and eastern Saskatchewan and 

 northward into Hudson Bay (Bellrose 1976). Bellrose (1976) considered migration 

 corridors poorly defined, with the most important one along the Atlantic coast 

 from the Maritime Provinces to Florida. Palmer (1976a) noted that southward de- 

 partures from a given area often follow two or more clearly distinct pathways. 

 More detailed information on migration routes may be found in Bellrose (1976) 

 and Palmer (1976a) . 



HABITAT 



Nesting Palmer (1976a), summarizing many authors, noted that breeding 

 habitats and nest sites were extremely diverse, with presence of water the only 

 characteristic in common. He also noted that this species is largely a resi- 

 dent of the boreal forest zone in summer. 



Black Ducks nest in bogs, marshes, swamps, on grassy or woodland hillsides, 

 on the tops of rotted stumps and in the crotches of trees in flooded areas, on 

 rocky offshore islets, in diked hay meadows, in large cavities in old trees, in 

 abandoned nests of other birds, along lakes and streams (Palmer 1976a), on dikes 

 and muskrat houses, in old duck blinds, and in rock crevices (authors cited _in 

 Bellrose 1976). Palmer (1976a) also noted that they prefer to nest on high 

 patches in dead cordgrass along the middle Atlantic coast. 



Feeding Feeding habitat is usually in water deep enough for the birds to 

 float, provided that one or more staples of diet are readily available (Palmer 

 1976a). These birds may be found feeding in terrestrial situations on mud 

 flats, in stubble fields, and on upland barrens (Palmer 1976a). Bellrose (1976) 

 noted that these birds could be found as easily in fresh, brackish, and salt- 

 water marshes along the coast as on inland marshes, lakes, impoundments, beaver 

 ponds, and rivers. 



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