Pennsylvania Game News - October 2023 - 61

By Ben Moyer
EPENDING on how you think about
it, the wood duck is either poorly
or aptly named. Poorly because that
title conveys nothing about this duck's
physical traits. The names of many other
waterfowl conjure a strong sense of their
appearance. Redhead, pintail, black, canvasback,
shoveler and both our common
teals reveal in their names key features that
distinguish that duck. " Wood " leaves you
wanting description.
Admittedly, whoever named the wood
D
duck faced a challenge describing it with
one terse modifier. Any characteristic they
picked to highlight would have fallen
short of the flamboyant whole. Red-eyed
duck? Inadequate. Greenhead duck? The
head also appears purple, and it's already
taken as slang for mallards. Crested duck?
Applies better to other species. Whitechinned,
chestnut-breasted duck? Comes
closest, but awkward to say.
One can imagine the wood duck's
christener giving up on description, settling
on a different approach. Even Roger
Tory Peterson, renowned ornithologist
and artist, deemed it futile to describe a
drake wood duck's plumage. " Highly
iridescent. Descriptive words fail, " he
wrote in A Field Guide to the Birds, a
book meant to simplify bird identification.
If " wood " fails as a visual clue, it's still
an apt name because it tells you about this
duck's habitat, almost uniquely among
waterfowl. Except for wood ducks, only
tundra swans and surf scoters divulge
any sense of where you might encounter
them, but their geographic indicators hold
limited relevance here. " Tundra " recalls
this swan's far northern breeding grounds,
and the only of Pennsylvania's features
linked to " surf " are Lake Erie whitecaps.
The " wood " in wood duck embraces any
forestland in the state within reasonable
reach of water. Given Pennsylvania's
dense stream network, that's a lot of
potential habitat.
From its hatching inside a hollow
tree trunk, through its sometimes long
first march through woods to water, to
its perching on logs and plucking acorns
from the shallows, a wood duck lives its
life among trees. Physical and behavioral
adaptations serve wood ducks well
in their arboreal haunts. Sharp claws
tip their long toes for clasping limbs,
first employed when day-old ducklings
clawed up out of their nest cavity. Short,
Wood Duck, Jewel of the Swamp
OCTOBER 2023
61

Pennsylvania Game News - October 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pennsylvania Game News - October 2023

Contents
Pennsylvania Game News - October 2023 - Cover1
Pennsylvania Game News - October 2023 - Cover2
Pennsylvania Game News - October 2023 - Contents
Pennsylvania Game News - October 2023 - 2
Pennsylvania Game News - October 2023 - 3
Pennsylvania Game News - October 2023 - 4
Pennsylvania Game News - October 2023 - 5
Pennsylvania Game News - October 2023 - 6
Pennsylvania Game News - October 2023 - 7
Pennsylvania Game News - October 2023 - 8
Pennsylvania Game News - October 2023 - 9
Pennsylvania Game News - October 2023 - 10
Pennsylvania Game News - October 2023 - 11
Pennsylvania Game News - October 2023 - 12
Pennsylvania Game News - October 2023 - 13
Pennsylvania Game News - October 2023 - 14
Pennsylvania Game News - October 2023 - 15
Pennsylvania Game News - October 2023 - 16
Pennsylvania Game News - October 2023 - 17
Pennsylvania Game News - October 2023 - 18
Pennsylvania Game News - October 2023 - 19
Pennsylvania Game News - October 2023 - 20
Pennsylvania Game News - October 2023 - 21
Pennsylvania Game News - October 2023 - 22
Pennsylvania Game News - October 2023 - 23
Pennsylvania Game News - October 2023 - 24
Pennsylvania Game News - October 2023 - 25
Pennsylvania Game News - October 2023 - 26
Pennsylvania Game News - October 2023 - 27
Pennsylvania Game News - October 2023 - 28
Pennsylvania Game News - October 2023 - 29
Pennsylvania Game News - October 2023 - 30
Pennsylvania Game News - October 2023 - 31
Pennsylvania Game News - October 2023 - 32
Pennsylvania Game News - October 2023 - 33
Pennsylvania Game News - October 2023 - 34
Pennsylvania Game News - October 2023 - 35
Pennsylvania Game News - October 2023 - 36
Pennsylvania Game News - October 2023 - 37
Pennsylvania Game News - October 2023 - 38
Pennsylvania Game News - October 2023 - 39
Pennsylvania Game News - October 2023 - 40
Pennsylvania Game News - October 2023 - 41
Pennsylvania Game News - October 2023 - 42
Pennsylvania Game News - October 2023 - 43
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Pennsylvania Game News - October 2023 - 45
Pennsylvania Game News - October 2023 - 46
Pennsylvania Game News - October 2023 - 47
Pennsylvania Game News - October 2023 - 48
Pennsylvania Game News - October 2023 - 49
Pennsylvania Game News - October 2023 - 50
Pennsylvania Game News - October 2023 - 51
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Pennsylvania Game News - October 2023 - 53
Pennsylvania Game News - October 2023 - 54
Pennsylvania Game News - October 2023 - 55
Pennsylvania Game News - October 2023 - 56
Pennsylvania Game News - October 2023 - 57
Pennsylvania Game News - October 2023 - 58
Pennsylvania Game News - October 2023 - 59
Pennsylvania Game News - October 2023 - 60
Pennsylvania Game News - October 2023 - 61
Pennsylvania Game News - October 2023 - 62
Pennsylvania Game News - October 2023 - 63
Pennsylvania Game News - October 2023 - 64
Pennsylvania Game News - October 2023 - Cover3
Pennsylvania Game News - October 2023 - Cover4
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