Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed legislation Thursday naming the Wood Duck Michigan’s state duck.
She signed the bill (House Bill 4044), sponsored by Representative Alabas Farhat (D-Dearborn), along with others on Thursday. The legislation passed both the Michigan House and Senate by wide bipartisan margins.
The Wood Duck faced extinction in the late 19th century due to loss of nesting sites and hunting. Wood Ducks, along with species like the Canada Goose and Trumpeter Swan, were brought back due to the passing of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act in 1918, according to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.
In recent years, the Wood Duck population has been expanding to the north and west, according to the National Audubon Society.
Wood Ducks join other iconography, like the American Robin, the state bird, trout, the state fish, and Kalkaska sand, the state soil.
