A duck decoy is a device to capture wild ducks or other species of wildfowl. In former times the birds were slaughtered and used for food. Today, if the device is used, the birds are ringed and released.
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The word decoy is derived from the Dutch word eende-kooi, which could mean "duck-cage",[1]; Chambers Dictionary suggests Dutch de kooi = "the cage". These conjectures are debatable. In the case of a derivation from Dutch de kooi, the final stressing of de kooi [də'ko:j] is inconsistent with English decoy ['di:ko:j], which has initial stress. The connection with Dutch eende-kooi is also phonologically problematic, e.g. eende-kooi has initial stress ['e:ndəkoj], which might have resulted in an English form **eancoy (vel sim.), rather than decoy, with an assumed disappearance of the initial syllable.</ref>
As finally developed the decoy consisted of a pool of water leading from which are from one to eight curving, tapering ditches. Over each ditch is series of hoops, initially made from wood, later from iron, which diminish in size as the ditch tapers. The hoops are covered in netting. The combination of ditch and net-covered hoop is known as a pipe. On the outside curve of the pipe, for two-thirds of its length, are overlapping screens.[2]
There are two methods of working a duck decoy, dogging or feeding.
Ducks are naturally curious and when they see a predator, such as a fox, they will keep it at a distance, but tend to follow it. The decoyman uses a dog, preferably a breed similar in appearance to a fox, to lure the ducks along the pipes. The dog appears between a gap in the screens and the ducks approach. It then appears at the next gap further along the pipe, and so on until the ducks are trapped at the end of the pipe.[3]
The decoyman walks behind the screens, throwing grain or other food over them while keeping out of sight. The ducks follow, eating the food, and are caught at the end of the pipe.[4]
In the mid-1880s there were 41 decoys still in operation in England, and 145 which were no longer in use.[5] Today there are only a few remaining duck decoys in England. These include Hale Duck Decoy in Cheshire, administered by Halton Borough Council,[6] Boarstall Duck Decoy near Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, owned and administered by the National Trust,[7] and a decoy in Abbotsbury Swannery, Dorset.[8]
Some are used to trap ducks for non-harmful study, such as ringing them.
Evidence of former duck decoys can be found. At Swanpool near Lincoln, cropmarks revealed in aerial photographs show the outlines of a decoy.[9] In Somerset, west of Nyland Hill there is evidence of a pond with three pipes,[10] and in Westbury there is a decoy with possibly six pipes.[11]
On the North Frisian Islands, decoys originally served as a pastime for sea captains and ships' officers during wintertime. Later the ponds were also used to trap great numbers of wild ducks for commercial purposes. In one decoy on Föhr island, more than 3,000,000 ducks have been caught since its installation in 1735, and from 1885 to 1931 a factory for canned duck meat was active in Wyk auf Föhr. The preserved meat was exported worldwide. Today there are six inactive decoys on Föhr.[12] Another decoy is located near Norddorf on Amrum island.