Black ducks disappearing

AREA — Residents who are local to the area have posed an interesting wildlife question about black ducks.

"Why have all the black ducks gone away?" asked one resident recently in a communication to the newspaper's offices, 25 years after the state passed strict hunting restrictions designed to help the waterfowl thrive.

The answer, says Kelsey Sullivan, a wildlife biologist with Maine's Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, is simple.

The American Black Duck population is doing well, at least across the state as a whole.

"I think I know where he's coming from," said Sullivan. "Their population is declining nationally, and it's closing in on the northeastern states."

Sullivan says that, while the ducks of Maine have enjoyed stable populations, their habitats are being eliminated in southern and western states, truncating their range.

Most of the habitat loss is occurring far away. Sullivan said that southern Maryland, western New York, and Ohio are losing their black ducks, even as the population thrives in Maine.

Maine enjoys a breeding population of about 20,000 birds, and a winter population of between 15,000 and 30,000.

Hunters are allowed to bag just one American Black Duck per day, and Sullivan estimates that hunters harvest about 5,500, many of which don't breed in the state and therefore don't subtract from the state breeding population.

Sullivan says that, while the statewide population is stable, there might be a local situation which could cause the ducks to go elsewhere.

"That could happen," he said. "Ducks are going to go where the food is. If there are environmental changes in the resources that they use, like the water quality or temperature change, that will change the food resource, and that's why they're not coming."

If this is the case, says Sullivan, sometimes the answer is simply to be patient.

"For a few years you won't encounter them, and then maybe six years down the road you'll see them again," said Sullivan.

Between April and July, which is breeding season, you might see the ducks in beaver ponds and small wetland flowages.

In the winter months, says Sullivan, you'll find them mostly in coasal salt marshes.

If area residents are interested in attracting the bird, Sullivan says that the key is protecting their nesting habitats. That can mean not just a pond or wetland, but a fairly large area surrounding the water.

"Unlike many birds, they don't necessarily nest right on the water's edge," said Sullivan. "They can nest several hundred feet inland."