other names
Black Duck, Wild Duck, Grey Duck or Blackie

click here to see an adult Pacific Black Duck

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DESCRIPTION

Male: 48 to 61cm in length. Wing span between 80 and 94cm. Top of head, neck, back and tail dusky-brown, feathers edged with creamy-brown. Face cream-buff with dusky lines from top of bill through eye and from side of mouth over face. Eyebrow and throat cream-buff. Breast, belly and undertail brown with cream-buff edges forming scallop shapes. Flight feathers dusky-brown, secondaries with broad green markings, edged with black. Underwing wholly white. Eye brown. Bill olive-grey to olive-buff.

Female: 47 to 58cm in length. As per male but paler in colour.

Juvenile: Facial stripes are duller than in adults. Breast and belly more heavily streaked with cream-buff. Scalloping shapes not as apparent.

Voice: Female as a loud raucous quack, single or repeated quickly in alarm. Males give a softer marbled "raehb" and a whistle followed by a grunt during courtship.

The Pacific Black Duck is probably the most known of Australian ducks and can be found throughout most of Australia, being absent from the arid desert interior of Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory. It can be found in a variety of habitats including wetlands, ponds, streams, marine waters, farm dams and parks. It prefers areas where there are large permanent water courses with plentiful vegetation. The Pacific Black spends most of its day foraging for plant and animal food in the water, such as seeds and shoots of aquatic grasses, millet and yabbies. Young ducklings eat mostly aquatic insects. It is sometimes a nomadic bird, following rain and floods but will remain sedentary in areas with plentiful water. Breeding is timed to occur when water areas are at the most extensive and aquatic food is mature. In the south the breeding period is around June to January and from January to April in the north. Those living in semi-arid areas breed anytime in the year after good rain. Preferred nesting sites are made in tree hollows, high off the ground however nests will also be made on the ground hidden in dense undergrowth. Between 7 and 12 eggs are laid and incubation is by the female for a period of approximately 26 to 30 days.