As an amateur birder, this book was a fascinating read! I have seen wood ducks around my favorite birding spot in Palmetto, Florida and at Red Bug Slough in Sarasota. They always struck me as wary birds because they fseem to ly off the second they spot you. After reading about their plight, I understand why.

I did not know they were at the brink of extinction and was unaware of the remarkable story of conservancy that brought their numbers back up. This book remedied that. It's not a page-turner, but it is a book that will take you on a unforgettable journey.

In Praise Of The Wood Duck


The iconic Wood Duck of North America, arguably the most beautiful and probably the best-known of all ducks, is beloved of artists, bird watchers, hunters, ramblers and nature lovers throughout its range and beyond.

The author details the life cycle of the woodie from egg through to maturity, detailing their preferred habitat, food items, migration patterns and breeding habits. The author must have read every single book, monograph, or academic paper written about the duck in the last two hundred years or so, and quotes liberally from them. Many of these contradict each other. I am wondering if there is any other North American bird that has generated so many words and crept so deeply into the American soul.

Hoch quotes some beautiful gems of prose that are a sheer delight. Two to whet the appetite: “I come into the peace of wild things … I come into the presence of still water.” (“Reflections on a Wood Duck Pond” – essay by Chuck Petrie); and
“I come into the peace of wild things … I come into the presence of still water.” (“The Peace of Wild Things” by Wendell Berry.)

It is more a specialised interest book than an easy read, but when reading it, two things struck chords in me. The undeniable beauty of a Wood Drake in its breeding plumage (I wish I could see one!) and the many references to wild things and still water. The last words of the book are “Go find the place where your Wood Drake rests in his beauty.”

I have given this book three stars as it doesn’t have general appeal, but if I was reviewing it as the specialist publication that it is, I would have given it four.

Bennie Bookworm.

The Elite Reviewing Group received a copy of the book to review.

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.

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.

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!