the blackish underbody and upperside. The purple speculum lacks white bands at the front and rear, and rarely has a white trailing edge. A dark crescent is visible on the median underwing primary coverts. Juveniles resemble adult females, but have broken narrow pale edges of underpart feathers, which give a slightly streaked rather than scalloped appearance, and the overall appearance is browner rather than uniformly blackish. Juvenile males have brownish-orange feet while juvenile females have brownish feet and a dusky greyish-green bill. Distribution and habitat The American black duck is endemic to eastern North America. In Canada, the range extends from northeastern Saskatchewan to Newfoundland and Labrador. In the United States, it is found in northern Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio, Connecticut, Vermont, South Dakota, central West Virginia, Maine and on the Atlantic coast to North Carolina. The American black duck is a habitat generalist as it is associated with tidal marshes and present throughout the year in salt marshes from the Gulf of Maine to coastal Virginia. It usually prefers freshwater and coastal wetlands throughout northeastern America, including brackish marshes, estuaries and edges of backwater ponds and rivers lined by speckled alder. It also inhabits beaver ponds, shallow lakes with sedges and reeds, bogs in open boreal and mixed hardwood forests, as well as forested swamps. Populations in Vermont have also been found in glacial kettle ponds surrounded by bog mats. During winter, the American black duck mostly inhabits brackish marshes bordering bays, agricultural marshes, flooded timber, agricultural fields, estuaries and riverine areas. Ducks usually take shelter from hunting and other disturbances by moving to brackish and fresh impoundments on conservation land. Behavior Feeding The American black duck is an omnivorous species with a diverse diet. It feeds by dabbling in shallow water and grazing on land. Its plant diet primarily includes a wide variety of wetland grasses and sedges, and the seeds, stems, leaves and root stalks of aquatic plants, such as eelgrass, pondweed and smartweed. Its animal diet includes mollusks, snails, amphipods, insects, mussels and small fishes. During the breeding season, the diet of the American black duck consists of approximately 80% plant food and 20% animal food. The animal food diet increases to 85% during winter. During nesting, the proportion of invertebrates increases. Ducklings mostly eat water invertebrates for the first 12 days after hatching, including aquatic snowbugs, snails, mayflies, dragonflies, beetles, flies, caddisflies and larvae.