Birders,

The attached message was sent to BCVANBIRDS by Guy Monty, who is
probably the most active birder in the Nanaimo area on Vancouver
Island. It provides further details on the status of the introduced
AMERICAN BLACK DUCK population in that area. Thanks very much for the
information, Guy.

Two points made by Guy deserve to be stressed: (1) There is a high
frequency of Mallard X Am. Black Duck mixed matings and hybrids,
especially away from the core Black Duck population in the Cedar-
Yellow Point area. (2) The population is more widely distributed than
I had indicated, with scattered sightings well to the north and south
of the Cedar and Nanaimo areas.

I disagree with Guy on one point: the time of introduction. I know of
no strong evidence that the Nanaimo area population was present prior
to the late 1970s. To the best of my knowledge, this population is
derived entirely from a group of 10 to 20 birds which escaped from Dan
Wilson, a farmer and waterfowl breeder who lives near Michaels Lake. I
discussed the origin of the population with Dan himself, and the story
told by Wayne Campbell et al. in "The Birds of British Columbia", Vol.
1 (1990) is essentially the same. If there were earlier releases,
deliberate or accidental, they were unknown both to Wayne Campbell and
to me.

One intriguing fact about the Am. Black Duck populations in both B.C.
(Yellow Point area) and Washington (Everett area) is that they appear
to be completely non-migratory, although there has been some wandering
to nearby areas. This is in contrast to wild populations of Black
Ducks in eastern North America, which migrate hundreds of miles north
and south. Perhaps this apparent loss of migratory tendencies was a
result of both populations being derived from ducks which had spent
quite a few generations in captivity.

Wayne C. Weber
Kamloops and Delta, B.C.
wayne_weber at bc.sympatico.ca



-----Original Message-----
From: Guy Monty <guylmonty at hotmail.com>
To: bcvanbirds at egroups.com <bcvanbirds at egroups.com>
Date: Saturday, October 28, 2000 9:52 PM
Subject: [bcvanbirds] Re: American Black Ducks:


>Hello Vancouver Birders,
>
> I thought I would comment on this subject since I live in the
>area "afflicted". In the Nanaimo checklist area, the American Black
>Duck is considered "uncommon" year round. It is actually much easier
>to find in winter, but, with effort, it can be found year round.
>This species can be found most regularly in Cedar, and Yellow Point,
>but has been seen essentially everywhere that there is habitat in the
>Nanaimo area. I have documented this species breeding in or near
>Hemer Provincial Park for three consecutive seasons now (98, 99,
>2000), but away from its strongholds in Cedar and Yellow Point, most
>matings seem to be of mixed parents i.e. Mallards and American Black
>Ducks. Buttertubs Marsh is an area where one can often see what
>appears to be a ABDU hen being pursued by a MALL drake. Most, but not
all birds outside of Cedar that appear to be American Black Ducks,
>are on closer inspection hybrids. The number of "pure" American Black
>Ducks in the Nanaimo area, in my estimation, is somewhere between 50
and 100 pairs. It will take more years of careful observation to
>determine whether or not this population is stable or not.

> There were two points in Wayne's message that I thought needed
>clarification. Firstly, This species was established much earlier
>than was mentioned. The local "legend" that I believe to be most
>accurate, is that these birds were first brought here sometime just
>before the turn of the century by coal miners emmigrating from the
>maritimes as domestic fowl, and subsequently escaped or were
>released. There have been several subsequent releases over the years,
especially by one farmer near Michaels Lake near Yellow Point, and
this may be what Wayne is refering to. Secondly, there is in fact
>some evidence that this population does wander a bit. I have
>personally seen American Black Ducks as far north as the Englishmen

>Estuary, and as far south as Quamichan Lake in Duncan. As to whether
>or not they wander as far as Vancouver? I have no idea. But I am left
>wondering why it is thought that a cage bird can escape and fly long
>distances, but that a feral bird, and especially one with "wild,
>migratory genes, even deeply buried, would not be capable of such
>travel? I'm not suggesting that they do, but it is worth a thought.


>Adios for now,
> Guy L. Monty
>