Eastern Mallard/Blackduck DNA

Ron~


I appreciate your thoughts about the bill markings, but...they are not entirely absent from Black Ducks.



It was, in fact, Steve Sutton who introduced me to the term "tobacco lips" when describing Mottled Ducks to me. Nevertheless, Black Ducks, too, have a "line of demarcation" - and that little black triangle at the hinge - that visually separates the bill from the face.




View attachment web_fyn-kynd_flickr-creative-common-by-2.0_americanblackduck_flickr-3-adult-male.jpg



Like everything else in the natural world, this trait varies among individuals, but it is there in most Black Ducks....


View attachment American_Black_Duck_FlickrCCWEB.jpg



It is not as pronounced as in the Mottled Duck, but is a "necessary ingredient" - in my opinion, to achieving "the look" when painting decoys intended to fool Old Mister Black Duck.


View attachment SJS Black Duck 01 - head.JPG



When I'm painting gunning stool - like this Homer - the job's not finished 'til that Line of Demarcation is done.



View attachment HOMER Black Duck Drake closeup 1.JPG





Mother Nature made sure to include such bill-face delineators on others, too - such as Pintails, Wigeon, Woodies, et cetera. An old artist's trick to make the patch of color "pop"!



All the best,


SJS





 
Matt Mahoney said:
Brad Bortner said:
Not sure what to say. Release of hand-reared mallards in Maryland has been around for a long time and known to be a bad thing for an equally long time. Thankfully most other states have prohibited it for a long time as well. But the eastern shore shooting clubs are too close to DC and the powerbrokers there, so the agencies have been unable to eliminate the practice for more than 30 years. The majority or states and flyway councils have opposed the practice but even so it has been perpetuated.
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Yes, RSAs are popular and controversial here. In addition to the subject of genetic dilution due to RSA releases, the popular construction of shallow impoundments that are manipulated to attract native waterfowl is also somewhat controversial. Many of us feel that traditional marshland hunting has been adversly affected by these nearby "candy stores".

Matt
Click to expand...

I like the way you two think!
 
Good morning, Matt~


Sorry to pull you away from your canoe project...but, what's an RSA ? (Google sends me in many directions, especially lots of organizations that begin with Royal in their names.)


All the best,


SJS

 
They are Regulated shooting Areas. They are basically private "clubs" or commercial properties that allow guests to shoot unlimited numbers of released mallards (other birds too but for the sake of this discussion we are talking about ones that release mallards) either in a tower shoot format or "managed habitat" format. The quotes are there because you might not recognize the management as anything more than shooting semi-captive birds that are flying to their morning breakfast. In tower shoots, birds are released at the top of a tower and they fly to their feeding pond, guests shoot at them as they fly to their pond. Survivors are rounded up as best they can and put through the same experience again and again. In the other format, ducklings are produced in a hatchery and then released at wetlands around the properties to survive to "hunting" season. Most of these ducks are from genetic stocks of game farm birds as pointed out in the article. They do not survive well in the wild. These large flocks of clueless ducklings are easy pickings for predators of all sorts. Most of these releases occur on intensely managed private property either owned by wealthy individuals or by members (often wealthy businesses who seek to influence folks from nearby Washington DC). In order to be legal under Federal regulations only captive reared mallards may be released and they must be permanently marked and under Maryland law, they all need permits. Once the "hunting" season starts, guests can harvest any number of marked birds but any wild birds must be taken under the regular duck season regulations. So if you shoot a wild mallard it counts toward your duck bag limit.

Here is some more information: https://dnr.maryland.gov/wildlife/Pages/Licenses/rsa_permit.aspx and https://www.fws.gov/migratorybirds/pdf/surveys-and-data/Captive-rearedMallardReport.pdf.
 
RSA birds generally denoted in my area with a clipped toe. Problem with the rsa impounds is they draw wild birds . Have ssen wild birds by the hundreds in them , teal, pintail, gadwall on the ones in md. Man made/ corn planted impounds have greatly changed the traditional flyway areas in my stomping grounds in the past 10 years and most of these aren,t RSA,s but those that are contribute to the change as well. Wild ducks hare actually turning nocturnal on these impounds due to hunting pressure. Tame ducks continue to die by daylight
 
Roy~


Yes. For several years - in the 1980s - we banded hundreds of Black Ducks each winter in the "catch-up pen" of a shooting preserve that held tower shoots with pen-reared Mallards. It was certainly an efficient way for us to capture lots of "wild" Black Ducks.


I do not know if subsequent band recovery data revealed any differences in survival when compared with our "wild-trapped" Black Ducks.


All the best,


SJS

 
Steve

I haven't looked at your black duck recoveries, but that is an interesting question. I have looked at a lot of other analyses of survival rates between captive reared and wild ducks and captive reared birds always die at higher rates. I have always been very thankful that duck management did not go the way of fisheries management and rely upon hatcheries instead of habitat acquisition, management and population management.
 
Anyone have any thoughts about the 1000s of developments with retention ponds that hold ducks? In NJ at a local pond i counted 10 double banded mallards a lot of them having green reward bands on one foot. People feed them and they never have to leave.
 
Steve Sanford said:
Good morning, Matt~


Sorry to pull you away from your canoe project...but, what's an RSA ? (Google sends me in many directions, especially lots of organizations that begin with Royal in their names.)


All the best,


SJS
Click to expand...

Hi Steve; Yup was working on the canoe, but it appears that others have answered your question. I was invited to "hunt" on an RSA once. Would never do it again unless I was training a young dog. RSA's are wonderful for that. Lot's of retrieves.

More recently, I was invited to hunt an impoundment here on the Shore. These are shallow ponds within which the water can be drawn down. Often, the impoundment is planted in millet, corn etc and then flooded prior to the season. As you can imagine, these sites are magnets for wild ducks, and as I mentioned earlier in this thread, have changed the feeding habits of our marsh ducks and thus the marsh hunting, and not for the better in my opinion.

We saw many ducks on my impoundment hunt, and I kept waiting for them to decoy, but it became apparent that they had no interest in the decoys and were landing all over the small body of water. We just shot at them as they passed within range. I didn't particularly enjoy that experience either.

Back to the canoe.......
 
Josh Schwenger said:
Anyone have any thoughts about the 1000s of developments with retention ponds that hold ducks? In NJ at a local pond i counted 10 double banded mallards a lot of them having green reward bands on one foot. People feed them and they never have to leave.
Click to expand...

Interesting thought Josh. Last year I performed inspections on close to 500 storm water basins in South Jersey, some in the pines and some closer to the Delaware. The inspections were to determine the level of functionality and maintenance, however being a hunter I always look for game. Without a doubt there were some that functioned as manicured feed ponds complete with paddle boats. Many of the basins I visited though were completely naturalized and were functioning ecosystems. Some were wooded, complete with deer stands, or some form of successional vegetation. Came across deer, turkey, rabbits and even a few quail. Those with beaver present or with shallow pools make great duck habitat and I jumped woodies and mallards from many of these. These basins struck me as excellent habitat that had some advantages for rearing young or as a migration stopover. Many were completely fenced in and owned by a municipality or by a homeowners association or by commercial business. Most were to close to structures to be hunted. It struck me that as habitat and property becomes scarcer conservation organizations could work with the financially strapped HOAs etc. to retrofit these basins to provide habitat and storm water management.
View attachment Basin 25-1.JPGView attachment IMG_4931 (00000002).JPGView attachment Basin 31-3.JPGView attachment ML 79-1.JPG
 

Some of the shoots, back in the day where I worked, could total as high as 200 + mallards.

NONE if at all possible, of the survivors on the property were ever re released for other shoots. We rounded up, shot/wrung necks, as many as the dogs and we found. All were sent to the "cleaning " building, dressed and went home with the shooters.

Those that flew off the property were left to fend for themselves and many did. Once shot at, preserve ducks wise up pretty damn quick IMO. Could be from what stock they came from back then.


Also there were regular visits by Game Commission officers, to check the ducks. Any "wild" mallards had to be released, and never used in shoots.

All birds taken home by the shooters had to be tagged with game preserve tags.

These were not pleasant places to work, but if you had a dog, the more birds the dog saw/worked, the better the dog.

Many very good dog breeders and handlers worked/helped out at these places. What young guys like myself learned from the best breeders, and handlers was way beyond what we could ever afford.


I once visited a game farm in Ohio (not to shoot ducks), that raised huge numbers of mallards.

From the time the ducklings were hatched. Workers on the game farm walked them from a high up hill large pond, down to a large down hill pond, and back again, a great distance apart.

Once the young ducks took flight the sight of so many birds flying, following the walkers was eye opening, and disturbing.

Far as I know, almost all the public shooting preserves (that were strictly managed) have become private, or closed.
 
Brad Bortner said:
Steve

I haven't looked at your black duck recoveries, but that is an interesting question. I have looked at a lot of other analyses of survival rates between captive reared and wild ducks and captive reared birds always die at higher rates. I have always been very thankful that duck management did not go the way of fisheries management and rely upon hatcheries instead of habitat acquisition, management and population management.
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Trying to go back is very hard. The put and take gamefish and the managed introduced species are the tail wagging the dog of good ecosystem management.

However, I take heart from a survey of randomly selected Maine anglers, asked to rank various management objectives on a scale of 0-10. The two highest ranking objectives were "Managing waters for the health of native populations where possible" (8.7/10 average score) and "Managing waters for the health of endangered fish and wildlife, even if it impacts recreational fishing opportunities" (8.0/10).

"Providing as many recreational fishing opportunities as possible to boost the economy" and "providing a diversity of angling opportunities to satisfy a wide variety of angling interests" ranked 3rd and 6th, respectively.

The license buyers are telling the managers what they want. Let's hope the managers are listening.

Full (very long!) report here. See page 210. https://www.maine.gov/...nglerreport_2016.pdf
 

Jeff,

I very much enjoyed reading about your accomplishments, in the article GETTING ON THE MAP by David Kinney, in the Spring 2020 TU Trout magazine.


Best regards
Vince
 
Thank you, but I am just one of many hands.

When the lockdown is over, there are trout ponds in Maine with your name on them. I might even know where a canoe or two is stashed in the woods. Unfortunately, prime time is right now.
 
Jeff Reardon said:
Thank you, but I am just one of many hands.

When the lockdown is over, there are trout ponds in Maine with your name on them. I might even know where a canoe or two is stashed in the woods. Unfortunately, prime time is right now.
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Jeff,

Many skilled hands make good, and great things happen.

Thank you for being so dedicated, and passionate about what you do. We need you now more than ever.


Fly fishing in Maine has been on my "gotta do" for a long time.

Your invite is very generous and most appreciated. God Willing maybe in 2021.


Yesterday was the first day the trout were lookin' up in earnest, in our part of western NY.

I had much enjoyment watching them, and catching some. A mix of wild and stocked Browns.

Bumper crop of spin and fly fishermen, due to out of work, but need to get outta the house folks.

I'm concerned that the wild Brookies will take pressure, that will do them harm.


Well I gotta get ready to go Trout Lookin'. [smile]


Enjoy the Prime Time, and may your smiles be many.


Best regards
Vince
 
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