• Kitchens, Charles
  University of Maine, Orono
  

The decline of American black ducks over the past 30 years has raised many questions. The causes are uncertain but researchers believe that either habitat loss, over hunting, or hybridization with mallards is leading to this decline. Contrary to population declines in black ducks, mallard populations have risen dramatically in the Atlantic Flyway in the past 30 years. Eighty juvenile  female mallards, 74  juvenile female black ducks, and 75 juvenile male black ducks were radio-marked and tracked from September-December of 1990 and 1991 to determine habitat use and movements on the Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge (MNWR), a staging area in northwestern Vermont, with emphasis on hunting disturbance.