Birders,

In hopes that it may help answer Tim Rodenkirk's question about the
American Black Duck at Hood River, I am offering the following brief
summary of the status of American Black Ducks (hereafter "Black
Ducks") in the Pacific Northwest.

In coastal British Columbia, there is an established, feral population
of Black Ducks near Yellow Point on southeastern Vancouver Island
(between Nanaimo and Ladysmith). This population is apparently
breeding in the area, and seems to be stable at about 100 birds. Some
hybrid Mallard x Black Ducks have been seen, but most appear to be
pure Black Ducks. They appear to have got their start in the late
1970s when some Black Ducks escaped from a local waterfowl breeder who
keeps a number of exotic species. (I am personally acquainted with the
individual involved.)

In the Vancouver area of B.C., up to 17 wing-clipped Black Ducks were
kept at one time at the Reifel Bird Sanctuary, in the late 1960s and
early 1970s, when Reifel housed a captive waterfowl collection as well
as being a sanctuary for wild waterfowl. A few apparently escaped, and
during the 1970s, and through at least the mid 1980s, a few pure Black
Ducks and Black Duck X Mallard hybrids could be seen in the vicinity.
These have long since died out, and the captive waterfowl collection
at the sanctuary was eliminated years ago.

In the last 7 or 8 years, one male Black Duck has been seen repeatedly
in winter near Vancouver, first at the Beach Grove Lagoon on Boundary
Bay, and in the last 2-3 years more often at the Tsawwassen ferry
terminal. (More than one bird may be involved-- if not, it is a very
long-lived Black Duck!). Because Black Ducks are frequent in captive
waterfowl collections, there is no way of knowing if this bird is an
escapee, or a wanderer from the feral Vancouver Island population.
(The status of Mute Swan is very similar.) Although both these species
have small established populations on Vancouver Island, neither of
them belongs on the Vancouver bird checklist, because of uncertainties
over the origin.

In Washington State, there was a feral Black Duck population for quite
a few years in the Everett area, especially at and near the huge
Everett sewage ponds. This population was present from the late 1960s
(I believe) through at least the early 1990s, and I saw Black Ducks a
few times in the Everett area. There was one Christmas Bird Count, if
I recall correctly, on which as many as 38 Black Ducks were tallied.
However, this population appears to have dwindled away to almost zero
in the last few years because of competition and hybridization with
Mallards,

(If someone on TWEETERS can provide more details on the Everett
population, please do so. I saw a recent posting on TWEETERS about
Black Duck at Everett, but I forget the details.)

There are a couple of Black Duck sightings from northeastern B.C.,
both at Cecil Lake near Fort St. John (east of the Rockies). One of
these was in May 1982 (2 birds), and one in May 1986 (one bird)-- see
Campbell et al. (The Birds of British Columbia, Volume 1, 1990). These
are the only sightings of Black Duck in B.C., Washington, or Oregon
which seem to be likely to be vagrants from the east, rather than
escapees or birds from a feral population. (Even in Alberta and
Saskatchewan, Black Ducks are quite rare.)

My belief is that any Black Duck seen in Oregon is far more likely to
be an escapee from captivity than a wild vagrant. Even the introduced
population on Vancouver Island is non-migratory, and it is
questionable whether these birds stray as far as the B.C. mainland,
let alone Hood River.

I hope this summary is helpful.

Sincerely,

Wayne C. Weber
Kamloops and Delta, BC
wayne_weber at bc.stympatico.ca




-----Original Message-----
From: Tim Rodenkirk <Tim_Rodenkirk at OR.BLM.GOV>
To: Multiple recipients of list OBOL <OBOL at BOBO.NWS.ORST.EDU>
Date: Thursday, October 26, 2000 7:44 AM
Subject: American Black Duck


>I never received any response concerning some questions I have on the
adult
>male AMERICAN BLACK DUCK hanging out in Hood River. I first saw it
there
>in June of 1999 and later saw in September of 1999. It was there
again the
>weekend of the 20th of October this year. It's been hanging out with
>Mallards and on my last visit I saw what appeared to be two Mallard X
>American Black Ducks with the flock suggesting it is breeding here in
Hood
>River perhaps?
>
>My questions are as follows:
>
>When did this duck first show up?
>
>Has it been documented hanging out year-round in Hood River?
>
>Is this bird possibly considered not of wild origin- i.e. an escaped
pet?
>
>I was surprised to receive absolutely no acknowledgment of seeing
this bird
>(it didn't even make Harry's Rare Bird Report), which real made me
wonder
>about the status of it...
>
>
>Tim R
>Coos Bay
>