American Black Duck vs Garganey
Anas rubripes compared with Spatula querquedula
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Attribute | American Black Duck | Garganey |
|---|---|---|
| Scientific Name | Anas rubripes | Spatula querquedula |
| Order | Anseriformes | Anseriformes |
| Family | Anatidae | Anatidae |
| Conservation Status | Least Concern | Least Concern |
| Length | — | — |
| Wingspan | 53.4 cm (21.0 in) | 37.6 cm (14.8 in) |
| Weight | 1211.25 g (42.73 oz) | 401.25 g (14.15 oz) |
| Diet | -- | Eats seeds, plant matter, and aquatic invertebrates; dabbles in shallow wetlands; diet shifts toward invertebrates … |
| Clutch Size | 1-17 | 6-14 |
| Population Trend | — | — |
Habitat Comparison
American Black Duck
Freshwater and brackish wetlands in eastern North America from Atlantic Canada south along the coast to Georgia. Breeds in northern bogs and wetlands. Winters on coastal marshes, estuaries, and freshwater lakes.
Garganey
Breeds on freshwater marshes, flooded meadows, and lake margins in Eurasia from Europe east to Siberia. Winters across sub-Saharan Africa, the Indian subcontinent, and Southeast Asia in wetlands of all kinds.
Song & Call Comparison
American Black Duck
Female produces a loud, deep quacking series; male gives a low, raspy grunt. Voice is deeper and huskier than a Mallard; pairs call powerfully across northeastern North American wetlands.
Garganey
Male produces a distinctive mechanical rattle or craking sound; female gives a subdued quack. The rattling male call is unlike any other teal and immediately diagnostic.
Geographic Range & Migration
American Black Duck
Garganey
Breeds across the Palearctic; winters from western Europe and North Africa east through South Asia to Southeast Asia.
Conservation Status
American Black Duck
Garganey
How to Tell Them Apart
American Black Duck
Sooty dark brown body; head and neck paler buff with dark streaking. Iridescent purple speculum without white border. Males have yellow-green bill; females olive with orange blotches. Silvery underwings in …
Garganey
Breeding males have chocolate-brown head with sweeping white supercilium. Blue-gray forewing; green speculum with white border. Gray flanks with white vermiculations. Females brown with white loral stripe.
About These Birds
American Black Duck
A large dark brown dabbling duck closely resembling a very dark female Mallard, with purple speculum, yellowish-olive bill in males, and orange legs. Common in eastern North America. Hybridizes freely with Mallard; pure populations declining in the interior.
Garganey
A small migratory teal. Males are unmistakable with a broad white supercilium, chocolate-brown head, and bluish-grey wing coverts. The only Eurasian duck that is fully migratory, wintering in Africa and South Asia. Breeds across Eurasia; one of the most long-distance migrant ducks.