BLACK DUCK 

 ( Anas rubrlpes ) 



[FR: Canard obscur, GE: Dunkelente , SP: Pato negro, US: Black Mallard] 



GENERAL DISTRIBUTION 



North America The Black Duck breeds primarily in the northeastern part of 

 North America and only nests sporadically elsewhere (range maps i_n Palmer 1976a, 

 Bellrose 1976). Breeding ranges delineated by Palmer and Bellrose vary some, 

 but both authors agree that the northern limits of regular breeding occur from 

 northeastern Manitoba east along the southern shores of Hudson Bay through Que- 

 bec and all but the northwestern part of New Brunswick, thence southeast through- 

 out Newfoundland. Western limits of regular breeding extend from eastern Minne- 

 sota south to northeastern Iowa. From northeastern Iowa they breed eastward 

 through northern Illinois, northern Indiana, northern Ohio, and northern Penn- 

 sylvania. Palmer (1976a) indicated that this species regularly breeds through- 

 out much of Pennsylvania south into northern West Virginia and northeastern Vir- 

 ginia; Bellrose (1976) did not. Both authors agreed that the species breeds 

 regularly along the Atlantic coast to the Cape Hatteras area of North Carolina. 



Black Ducks breed or have bred sporadically or locally in small numbers in 

 Alberta, Saskatchewan, North Dakota, Kansas, Tennessee, southern and western 

 Virginia, coastal South Carolina and Georgia, and northern Alabama (Bellrose 

 1976, Palmer 1976a). 



Black Ducks winter in the southern portion of this range, largely within 

 the United States, south to the Gulf coast in extreme eastern Texas and east to 

 central and northern Florida (Bellrose 1976, Palmer 1976a). 



World Distribution These ducks occasionally straggle to the Old World 

 where they have been recorded in Ireland, England, the Azores (Palmer 1976a), 

 Sweden (Jonsson 1975), and South Africa (Brooke and Sinclair 1976). They occur 

 regularly in Bermuda in fall and are sometimes seen there in winter (Palmer 

 1976a). 



DISTRIBUTION IN THE COASTAL SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES 



North Carolina Black Ducks are common winter residents of North Carolina 

 and breed in small numbers (Pearson et al. 1942). They rarely breed in the in- 

 terior (Palmer 1976a, LeGrand 1977b) and are most abundant as breeding birds 

 along the coast (Florschutz 1962), where moderate numbers may be found (LeGrand 

 1979d). 



More Black Ducks winter along the coast of North Carolina than in any other 

 coastal area in the southeast. Winter surveys (1950-1960) indicated an average 

 of 18,300 birds along the coast of North Carolina, with most (17,700) in the 

 northern half of the state (Geis et al. 1971). The 1975 winter survey reported 



211 



