The [black duck](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Black_Duck “Wikipedia’s American Black Duck Page”), a signature species of the Chesapeake Bay and a favored target of mid-Atlantic hunters for decades, is in trouble, and scientists are not sure why.

There are several suspects:

* Waterfront development is ruining the wetlands where black ducks lay their eggs and live.
* Their food stuffs – bugs and worms and aquatic plants that thrive in muddy ooze – are fading, too.
* Black ducks are skittish of humans and won’t hang around when marinas, homes, roads and piers show up nearby.

What doesn’t make sense is this: While other migratory waterfowl have rebounded in recent years, including Canada geese, snow geese and mallards, black ducks have not, especially in Virginia, Maryland and North Carolina. Throughout the East Coast, their numbers are down about 60 percent, according to scientific estimates.

[Read](http://www.wtopnews.com/?nid=25&sid=1009915 “Read the Story”) (AP via WTOP)