Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfamilies, they are a form taxon; they do not represent a monophyletic group, since swans and geese are not considered ducks. Ducks are mostly aquatic birds, and may be found in both fresh water and sea water.
Havre de Grace, abbreviated HdG, is a city in Harford County, Maryland, United States. It is situated at the mouth of the Susquehanna River and the head of Chesapeake Bay. It is named after the port city of Le Havre, France, which in full was once Le Havre de Grâce.
Tuckerton is a borough situated on the Jersey Shore, within Ocean County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 3,577, its highest decennial count ever and an increase of 230 (+6.9%) from the 3,347 recorded at the 2010 census, which in turn had reflected a decline of 170 (−4.8%) from the 3,517 counted in the 2000 census.
A decoy is usually a person, device, or event which resembles what an individual or a group might be looking for, but it is only meant to lure them. Decoys have been used for centuries most notably in game hunting, but also in wartime and in the committing or resolving of crimes.
The Federal Duck Stamp, formally known as the Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp, is an adhesive stamp issued by the United States federal government that must be purchased prior to hunting for migratory waterfowl such as ducks and geese. It is also used to gain entrance to National Wildlife Refuges that normally charge for admission. It is widely seen as a collectable and a means to raise funds for wetland conservation, with 98% of the proceeds of each sale going to the Migratory Bird Conservation Fund.
The pygmy geese are a group of very small "perching ducks" in the genus Nettapus which breed in the Old World tropics. They are the smallest of all wildfowl. As the "perching ducks" are a paraphyletic group, they need to be placed elsewhere. The initially assumed relationship with the dabbling duck subfamily Anatinae has been questioned, and it appears they form a lineage in an ancient Gondwanan radiation of waterfowl, within which they are of unclear affinities. An undescribed fossil species from the late Hemphillian of Jalisco, central Mexico, has also been identified from the distal end of a tarsometatarsus. It is only record of the genus in the New World.
Ducks Unlimited (DU) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to the conservation of wetlands and associated upland habitats for waterfowl, other wildlife, and people. It has had a membership of around 700,000 since January 2013.
Waterfowl hunting is the practice of hunting aquatic birds such as ducks, geese and other waterfowls or shorebirds for food and sport.
Joel David Barber (1876–1952) was an early 20th-century architect from New York City who is best known as an early collector and promoter of duck decoys as folk art.
Wild Fowl Decoys is an art reference book by American collector Joel Barber. It was the first book that was published on decoys and decoy collecting. It was first published in 1934 by Eugene V. Connett III by the original Derrydale Press. As were almost all original Derrydale Press books, it was published as a limited edition. This first edition typically sells for thousands of dollars. A subsequent edition was published by Windward House. The book has been re-printed a number of times, notably two years after Barber's death in 1952, by Dover Books. More recently, the book has been reprinted in 1989 and 2000 by resurrections of the Derrydale Press.
The Call is a historic breed of small domestic duck. It is believed to have originated in the Netherlands, where the earliest descriptions and depictions of it date from the seventeenth century. It is similar in appearance to some other breeds of ducks, but is much smaller, with a round head and very short bill. Female Ducks, but not drakes, are very loquacious and noisy, with a piercing high-pitched call which can be heard from far away.
A sneakbox is a small boat that can be sailed, rowed, poled or sculled. It is predominantly associated with the Barnegat Bay in New Jersey, just as the canoe-like Delaware Ducker is associated with the New Jersey marshes along the Delaware River near Philadelphia.
A duck decoy is a device to capture wild ducks or other species of waterfowl. Decoys had an advantage over hunting ducks with shotguns as the duck meat did not contain lead shot. Consequently, a higher price could be charged for it.
A duck call may be either the sound-imitation process used in waterfowl hunting, by which a hunter lures waterfowl, or the actual tool which the person uses to do so. Early duck call tools were basic woodwind instruments, while later innovations are constructed of rubber and plastic, and allow the hunter to adjust the volume and tone of the calls with reeds. Today's duck calls usually fall into three main categories: single, double, or triple reed call with many variations, although the triple reed is rare. The goal of a duck call is to sound like a realistic live duck, in attempts to decoy, or fool a duck into believing the decoys that are seen by a duck, and the sound that is heard appears lifelike.
Delbert Lee "Cigar" Daisey, known as "Cigar" Daisey, was an American waterfowl wood carver and decoy maker. He was the son of Herbert Lee Daisey and Emma Jane Daisey. He was born, lived and worked in Chincoteague, Virginia, and was the resident carver at the Refuge Waterfowl Museum. His decoy carvings are recognized for both their artistic value and functionality as working pieces for waterfowl hunting. His works include black ducks, mallards, redheads, ruddys and red-breasted mergansers and often crafted in drake (male) and hen (female) pairs. He had carved about 1900 ducks in total and he generally used cork or wood as his medium. He carved his first duck out of balsa wood in 1940 at his father's wood shop. The Smithsonian has his works in their collection. He was given his nickname in 1945 by John Buckalew, Federal Game Warden and first manager of the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge because Daisey would leave cigar butts to taunt game wardens while poaching ducks on Assateague Island. Later in life, Daisey was an avid conservationist.
The Ward Brothers, Lemuel T. Ward (1897–1984) and Steven W. Ward (1895–1976), were two brothers from Crisfield, Maryland, who became famous for their wooden wildfowl carvings, commonly called decoys. Their decoys are highly prized by collectors. Few examples of their work survive on the open market, as private collectors and museums now own most of their original works. In November 2006, a Ward Brothers goldeneye drake decoy sold for US$109,250 at an Easton, Maryland waterfowl festival auction. They adopted the moniker 'Wildfowl Counterfeiters in Wood' as the motto for their carving operation. Another rare Ward Brothers bird, a Broadbill Drake made in 1936, was sold for $51,750 at a January 2013 auction on Park Avenue in New York City.
The Dorset House is an exhibit building at Shelburne Museum in Shelburne, Vermont, United States; it houses the museum's collection of 900 wildfowl decoys.
Ernie Mills is an American third generation Decoy maker. He makes Lower Chesapeake style decoys. Nationally recognized as a folk artist, his traditional working decoys can be found in private collections and museums, including the Smithsonian Institution.
Layout boat hunting is a sub specialty of traditional waterfowl hunting which is done in a low-profile un-motorized boat with a unique design that allows the hunter to maintain a close position to the water in order to conceal them in open water areas that are frequented by diver and ocean ducks. This is a sport with a long history going back to market hunters and boat-mounted punt guns. The main focus of the layout boat is to put the hunter very close to the decoys, or even among them, for additional concealment. This makes for dramatic hunting scenarios where a decoying bird comes extremely close to the hunter and boat.
Ira Hudson was an American boat builder and prolific decoy and shorebird carver from Chincoteague, Virginia. He created over 20,000 decoys during his lifetime, full sized and miniatures.
