Great day for what has been the slowest second season I can remember.

G

Gerald N

Active member

What a memorable day for what has been a slow season. Thought I was going to get stuck in the low tide mud but the tide returned quickly with the aid of a Southeast wind and snow squalls. At noon the sky was grey with the sun poking through and then when legal approached the snow started.
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No I do not have two blacks take a look at the wing and speculum on the banded bird. Mallard type wing and state biologist has said it is considered a other duck and not to be counted in the black duck bag.
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This is the first time I have counted it not as a black since the wing feathers were so apparently not black duck and the tail feathers were similarly mallard type in color and with a curl.
 
When I called it in they only gave me location and date of the banding. Knowing the bander I serously doubt it will be labeled a Black-or-Mallard. I betting on Black Mallard cross.
 
This raises an interesting question for painting black duck decoys (a project I'm presently in the middle of); what to paint on the female black duck bill.

Maybe it doesn't matter, but I'm having fun trying to make these as realistic as possible.

Anyway, I took some photos of a female black duck (shot in an area I frequently hunt) which appears to have some dusky mottling on the bill (similar to a female mallard, but nowhere near as much). On the other hand, all the female black duck photos I've found on the internet and in books seem to show a solid olive bill.

This leads me to believe my black duck model is really a hybrid.

By the way, quite the harvest Chris; I find this (so far) is the least duck activity in memory.
 
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Chris,very nice! Just how much push-back do you get from COs on black/mallard hybrids? Do they have any preset criteria for ID?
 
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The biologists have made the intentions of the regulations known. Now how the state wardens interpret is is a matter in and of itself. Sadly I believe it depends on which one you run into. Wardens in these parts are mostly funded by marine fisheries and target enforcement efforts accordingly. They are up on deer hunting and atvs but ducks and other less attractive issues some are just plain olde rusty and they will be calling their suprevisor. I have had a difference of opinions on several occasions with a state warden and each time I ended up with the officer changing his opinion to reflect my. Also I carry the email from the biologist that discusses this exact issue.
 
Chris, I am no biologist so take this as strictly opinion. When I was doing the wing surveys I noticed most of the female black ducks with dark mottling to bill were young females. I think as they mature the bill takes on its more solid olive color.
 
Sounds like CT. we shoot " hybrid blacks" (white in the speculum) unless it has green in head im not going to shoot another one.

I wouldnt trust their id skills or knowledge of the laws. Only thing they asked me for was life jackets didnt even check my birds.
 
From a past life I am all to familar with color enhancement in the waterfowl as they age. Soemtimes it is three years others times one to two. I agree that the color does enhance as they age. The female hormone surpresses drab colors in birds and if they live long enough when they hit menopause they will color in like a male getting more and more vibrant so the same is true in young females as they mature with the bill color darkening or speckling slightly.

As for them check ing lifejackets in CT Chris-that is about what we have here unless they have a specific interest in that type of hunting but more and more are in it not for love of the woods but for the check and that is when you end up with situations that can get interesting in a hurry.
 
Not for nothing, but to me and any Rhode Island game warden, you shot 2 black ducks. I mean, the bird is laying next to a mallard and another black duck, which one does it look like?
 
and an eclipse mallard drake looks like a hen. Does that make it a hen eventhough it is a drake biologically. Thought process is same and in fact the esclipse drake looks more hen like in early season than drake mallard. Same goes here in New England with eiders and one hen limit. Many one and two year old male eiders more resemble a hen than drake so you would write them up for exceeding the hen limit?

The regulations governing take are science driven and not moral.
From the state of Connecticut and the rules of take for on black duck limits cannot supercede the federal framework so this should settle any question as to the science behind the regualtions.
Black Duck Harvest Information
The daily bag limit for black ducks is one. However, black duck/mallard hybrids do not count toward the black duck bag limit. Any hybrid counts towards the mallard daily bag limit. The best way to distinguish between black ducks and black duck/mallard hybrids is to look at the feathers above the wing speculum. Black ducks have no white coloration above the speculum.
Black Duck Harvest Information
The daily bag limit for black ducks is one. However, black duck/mallard hybrids do not count toward the black duck bag limit. Any hybrid counts towards the mallard daily bag limit. The best way to distinguish between black ducks and black duck/mallard hybrids is to look at the feathers above the wing speculum. Black ducks have no white coloration above the speculum.
 
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I wish we had something in the NJ state game laws to clarify the hybrid issue. The black I shot Friday was definitely a hybrid, green showing in the head, rosy chest, faint white banding on the forward edge of the speculum. But I counted it as my black duck for the day, I don't need any issues back at the ramp.
 
I agree 100% and not for increased take but to limit the take of blacks. Connecticut's speculum pictures in their game law abstracts is way to liberal for my liking. A faint white line on secondaries is a hybrid to be counted as mallard. This is where some biologists disagree since some are saying any white on secondary edge above speculum is not indicative of a true black while others have said it must extend across whole length of speculum.

In any case the obvious mongrels in feeding areas rich with mallards that fly to marshes during freeze up are best culled from the population to preserve what we know as a black duck today.

Drake mallards are more aggressive in pursuing mates than male blacks and these obvious male hybrids will only dilute the true black duck with each successive breeding season.
 
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