Soon after the Woodcock's scaipe sounds in early March we hear the raucous yet cheerful quacks of our BLACK DUCKS returning to their valley home. Unlike Mergansers, Black Duck males do most of their courting awing, flying over and around the swimming females, with downbent necks and much display of white under wing coverts. Courtship is brief and by the middle of April nesting is in full swing and the birds almost silent. At dawn and dusk they exercise by circling the valley a half dozen times, then return secretively to the weedy haven.
McAtee states that their food is three-quarters vegetable, the other fourth, animal.
Southeastern Canada and eastern United States. Rare west of Mississippi Valley.