With Wings Extended

A Leap into the Wood Duck's World

by Greg Hoch

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Pub Date May 04 2020 | Archive Date May 01 2020

University of Iowa Press | University Of Iowa Press

Outdoors & Nature

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Description

A century ago, many people had given up on the wood duck, dooming it to extinction along with the passenger pigeon and Carolina parakeet. Today, it’s one of the most familiar and most harvested ducks in the eastern half of the country, and one of America’s great conservation success stories.

In With Wings Extended, Minnesota conservationist Greg Hoch introduces readers to a duck they probably recognize but may not know well. This book shows how almost anyone can get involved in conservation and do something for wildlife beyond writing checks to conservation organizations. Hoch illustrates the complexities of wildlife and habitat management that landowners as well as state and federal wildlife agencies deal with on a daily basis, and takes readers through the life stages of what is largely considered the most beautiful duck in the world. In this fascinating and practical read, Hoch blends the historical literature about the species with modern science, and also shows how our views of conservation have changed over the last century.

Advance Praise

“Author Greg Hoch, like his avian subjects, turns over every leaf in search of that fat acorn of evidence, reasoned opinion, statistic, or intriguing circumstance to nourish his telling. The result is a pageant of accumulated thought, color, and light as wondrous as the wood duck’s lair. Once you have read this book, you will wonder no more why the secretive, yet brilliantly adorned, wood duck holds such special esteem in the Americas and beyond.”—Jay Michael Strangis, publisher/editor, American Waterfowler Magazine

“This is an extraordinarily thorough and well-researched book by Hoch. The story of the wood duck is the story of North American wildlife—overexploitation, management, and recovery. This success story needs to be understood by all those with an interest in wildlife and hunting. I highly recommend it.”—Tom Landwehr, author, Hunting Adventures on the Minnesota Frontier: Sportsmen’s Tales from 1850–1900

Available Editions

EDITION	Other Format
ISBN	9781609386955
PRICE	$35.00 (USD)
PAGES	190

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Additional Information

Average rating from 7 members

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Featured Reviews

Bonnye Reed F, Reviewer

I received a free electronic ARC of this excellent Carolina Wood Duck history from Netgalley, Greg Hoch, and University of Iowa Press. Thank you all for sharing this fine work with me. I have read With Wings Extended of my own volition, and this review reflects my honest opinion of this work. I find I always enjoy the work published by University presses. I am especially pleased to recommend this work to friends and family.

The wood duck is unique in that it nests in old-growth trees, unlike most ground-nesting ducks and geese. Its seasonal migration pattern is small or not at all, and it's colors and mask make you happy whether you want to be or not. It is also one of the few true conservation successes in our history. The wood duck, the passenger pigeon, and the sandhill crane all reached dangerously low populations due to abuse and/or overhunting at about the same time. Wood ducks and Sandhill cranes numbers were lifted back up with strict conservation efforts, but the sandhill is dwindling again as we speak and there hasn't been a passenger pigeon to grace our lands in many years.

It is books like this that keep the fight to share these birds with our children and grandchildren alive. Thank you Iowa Press for keeping the need for conservation efforts alive.

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Kayla K, Educator

I love natural history and am always surprised by the sheer number of cool critters that have not yet received their own book. In "With Wings Extended" Greg Hoch remedies this situation for the fascinating wood duck. The book begins by discussing the history of our engagement with these beautiful birds and by showing their place in the ecosystem (they are connected to woodpeckers, who break down trees that they use to nest in, and beavers). Called "the prince of ducks" this beautiful, versatile flier is brought to vivid life by chapters dealing with camouflage, environment, diet, breeding habits, and nesting boxes. A fun and entertaining look at a gorgeous animal!

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Tara H, Librarian

I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. Greg Hoch is a wonderful storyteller and his passion for natural history and these Wood Ducks is lovely. I will be passing this on to all my birdwatching friends.