The founder of the company, Doug Levin, named the company Black Duck Software after a pet duck he found and nursed back to health when he was seven years old.

The American Black Duck - A Fact Sheet

The American Black Duck is unique: Both sexes have a sooty brown body and crown and a lighter brown on the neck and rest of the head. There is a dark stripe through the eye.

Since both sexes have almost identical plumage, it is hard to discern one from the other, except by the color of the beak during mating season. Read More

According to DuckCentral.com:

"The black duck is notorious for being one of the smartest of all ducks. It is often very hard to call and decoy and is very suspicious of its surroundings."

"In flight, the flashing white wing linings contrast sharply with the rest of its dark wings and body. During the breeding season, the adult male has a yellow bill and often bright red feet, while the adult female has an olive green bill and olive-colored feet." Source

At Black Duck Software, we are inspired by our namesake: we aim to be smart, discern small differences between things that seem very similar, and, as you may notice, even the colors we have chosen for our Web site are the shades of the duck's coloring and watery habitat.

The following sites have more information about the American Black Duck (Anas rubripes):

University of Michigan Museum of Zoology 

U.S. Geological Survey

Black Duck Wikipedia Entry