Local Distribution of Hunting Kill 
Information concerning the local distribution 
of the hunting kill of Black Ducks within the 
Upper Chesapeake region (excluding the Coastal 
section) was obtained through an analysis of 
the distribution of 741 weighted recoveries of 
birds banded outside of Maryland and Virginia 
(table 64). These recoveries were reported 
during the years 1948-58. The number per 
year ranged from 29 in 1952 to 123 in 1955, 
Data from the Coastal section were excluded 
because the breeding-ground origin and migra- 
tion routes of birds in the Coastal section 
apparently differ somewhat from those of 
birds in the Chesapeake Bay proper. Addy 
(1953) suggested, on the basis of available 
banding data, that Chesapeake Bay may be of 
major importance to Black Ducks from Ontario 
and western New York and that the coastal 
area may be used to a greater extent by birds 
from the northeastern maritime areas. 
Approximately 57% of the total kill of Black 
Ducks occurred in the area that extends from 
the Bohemia River to the Choptank River, 
where a large proportion of the habitat con- 
sists of shallow estuarine bays adjoined by 
agricultural fields. About 23% of the kill was 
distributed over the Lower Eastern Shore and 
Blackwater-Nanticoke sections, areas that 
contain extensive estuarine bay marshes. 
Roughly 10% was in the western shore areas 
below the Patapsco River (including Potomac 
and Patuxent River sections), and 8% in the 
fresh-water areas of the Upper Western Shore 
and Susquehanna Flats sections. Only 1% of 
the total kill was in the coastal plain interior. 
Greatest local concentrations of kill were in 
the upper Eastern Bay area (11%), central and 
lower Chester River (10%), St. Michaels area 
(6%), and central Choptank area, near Cam- 
bridge (5%). The kill of Black Ducks as re- 
lated to their local populations was propor- 
tionally low in the Chester River section. 
Information concerning the kill within the 
Coastal section (not shown in the table) was 
based on 140 weighted recoveries of birds 
banded outside of Maryland and Virginia. These 
recoveries were reported from the Coastal 
section during the years 1949-58. The number 
per year ranged from 6 in 1954 to 23 in 1955, 
The distribution of the kill was: northern 
Chincoteague-Sinepuxent Bay area, 36%; south- 
ern Chincoteague Bay area, 27%; central 
Chincoteague Bay area, 22%; and Assawoman- 
Isle of Wight Bay area, 15%, 
Kill data arranged by months for all areas, 
including the Coastal section, showed that 31% 
of the kill was in November, 44% in December, 
and 25% in January. 
Harvest Areas of Birds Banded in Upper 
Chesapeake Region 
Data concerning harvest areas of Black 
Ducks banded in the Chester River-Eastern 
39 
Bay area andinthe Dorchester County marshes 
during the years 1950-58 came from 421 in- 
direct band recoveries (table 65), The great 
majority of the birds were taken in the mid- 
Atlantic States, the proportions ranging from 
74% for spring-banded birds to 92% for 
summer-banded birds. About three-fifths of 
the recoveries from birds banded in winter 
and spring and about three-fourths of those. 
from birds banded in summer and early 
fall were reported from Marylandalone, Other 
harvest areas of some importance, particularly 
for birds banded in winter and spring, were 
east-central Canada (Quebec, Ontario) and the 
north Atlantic States. 
Stotts (1957) analyzed both direct and in- 
direct recoveries of Black Ducks banded in 
Maryland and concluded that most of the 
harvest of birds banded in Maryland also 
was in Maryland, and within 25 miles of the 
banding stations. 
GADWALL 
Anas strepera Linnaeus 
Transient and wintering Gadwalls usually 
are fairly numerous in the central portions 
of the Potomac River estuary. A few also are 
scattered through the extensive marshes of 
the Blackwater-Nanticoke, Lower Eastern 
Shore, and Coastal sections. Gadwalls are 
rare and irregular elsewhere within the Upper 
Chesapeake region. January inventories for 
1953-58 show that the Upper Chesapeake 
wintering population ranged from zero in 1953 
and 1954 to 3,000 in 1958, averaged 1,100. 
This average figure represents only a small 
fraction of the total continental population and 
about 3% of the Atlantic population. 
Gadwalls were not known to nest in the 
Upper Chesapeake region until 1948 (Springer 
and Stewart, 1950), when several breeding 
pairs, as well as eggs and young, were ob- 
served in Somerset County between Monie 
Bay and the Manokin River, in themarsh south 
and southeast of Dames Quarter. This popula- 
tion apparently is successfully established, 
because breeding pairs have been observed in 
the area several times in recent years. A few 
scattered breeding pairs also have been seen 
in southern Dorchester County, in the large 
marsh between Savannah Lake and Elliott. 
The breeding season extends from late April 
to early August. Extreme egg dates (4 nests) 
range from May 4 to July 19, and a brood of 
downy young, about 4 or 5 days old, was ob- 
served by F. M, Uhler on July 3. 
The fall migration usually is during the 
period August 20-30 to November 20-30, 
with the peak between October 10 and No- 
vember 10. The normal spring migration 
extends from March 10-20 to April 25- 
May 5. 
