This duck was taken on Sept 29,2004 on the 4 day opener in North Carolina my buddie shot it out of a flock of mallards and we didnt really notice it was a Black or Mottled duck until we got home so any help would be useful. we dont get this much around here and its hard to tell a black and a mottled apart

Looks like a black being as dark as it is. Mottled ducks are usually a bit lighter and look more like a hen mallard.

Looks like a black to me

According to the LeMaster Method ID Book, the wing markings are the most positive identification. From what it says it looks more like a mottled duck because of the white tips on the wing markings.

See if this helps you out. It was shot by my son at the end of last season. True extreme southern Florida Mottled.



Hope it helps.

Looks like a Black to me....

Whiskey is correct. It cannot be a black duck due to the white below the blue on the wing. Black Ducks have a black on top and below the wing's blue. Mallards have white on top and below the blue. From what I can see from the photo it is a Mottled Duck, all I see is white below the blue. If it has a dark ridge on the bill it is a female Mottled Duck.

I also agree that it is a mottled. A true black will have black bars above and below the blue. Nice duck anyway.

bird in the top pic is a black duck ... other is a mottled ...great birds guys !!! congrats

im 100% sure of that .... and by the way ... alot of blacks will show hints of white on the speculum ... and the color isnt blue .... its purple .... i kill blacks every season here ...too bad they wont up the limit .... we will limit on our 1 black per gun and have em swimmin in the decoys .... pretty birds tho .... i have never killed a mottled ... but i have a couple in the freezer to mount .... they are awesome birds too ...as sumbody said earlier ...the mottleds are alot lighter .... more like a tan color highlighted with larger amounts of black ...and the blacks being the opposite .... also the bill color on the mottled is a dead give away .... now just point me in the direction of the nearest wigeon/sprig hole and ill be happy .... lol ....good luck yall ....be safe .... keep ya eyes skyward .... let em drop their feet and TAKE EM