The male wood duck has always been America’s most visually attractive duck. Most decoy carvers try to capture his jewel-like iridescent plumage that is his breeding attire. His Latin name even means “waterfowl in wedding raiment.”
But the male wood duck’s exquisite garb got him in a lot of trouble during the first half of the past century. Despite the numerous pairs originally existing in every quiet cove and wooded swamp riverbend, the hunting then was conducted in all seasons and made heavy dents in the wood duck population, nearly driving it to extinction.
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