American Black Duck Ballet

Since professional ballerinas are usually strikingly tall and thin, it’s funny to see the rounded figure of a duck extending a leg back into a graceful arabesque.

These American Black Ducks were active at dawn, swimming and mating and hanging out on the lake in Naples, Florida February 2020.

Both ducks are mottled with purple accent feathers on their wings. The male duck with the yellow beak swims on the left below. The female bill is mottled. Smart ducks, they winter near the coast. Their population has fallen, but they are found in the Eastern United States.

The same two American Black Ducks in synchronized swimming. Naples FL February 2020.