Black ducks (Richard Bishop's favorite bird to paint/draw) see Edgar M. Queeny's opus- "Prairie Wings" like Canada geese, are not sex/sexually distinguishable hens to drakes, as are common mallards- The only sure way to know if you have a black duck from a hen mallard in had (regardless of eclipse cycles) is the black will NOT have a white border around the purple wing(s) speculum(s)or is that speculai? RWTF

"The field is the touchstone of the man"..