American Black Duck Research
Photo by Clayton Ferrell/USFWS
During the early 1990's there were four research projects that studied habitat use, food habitats, and survival of black ducks on Tennessee NWR (Byrd 1991; Chipley 1995; Clark 1996; White 1994).
Byrd's (1991) study compared the food habits of black ducks and mallards on the Duck River Unit during the winter of 1990-91. This study examined foods consumed by thirty-nine black ducks and twenty-four mallards. The diets of both species consisted predominately of vegetative matter (94% for black ducks and 95% for mallards). Seeds from plants (other than agriculture grains) were the dominant major food group consisting of 72% of the black duck and 87 % of the mallard diets. Spikerush ( Eleocharis sp.) and smartweed ( Polygonum hydropiperoides) seeds were most common in black ducks with spikerush and Johnson grass ( Sorgum halepense) more prevalent in mallards. Blacks ducks consumed a higher percentage of vegetative parts other than seeds than mallards. Agriculture grains made up a minor part of the diet of both species (5% for black ducks and 3% for mallards).
