Editing Duck (section)

==Relationship with humans==

===Hunting===
{{main|Waterfowl hunting}}
Humans have hunted ducks since prehistoric times. Excavations of [[midden]]s in California dating to 7800 – 6400 [[Before present|BP]] have turned up bones of ducks, including at least one now-extinct flightless species.{{sfn|Erlandson|1994|p=171}} Ducks were captured in "significant numbers" by [[Holocene]] inhabitants of the lower [[Ohio River]] valley, suggesting they took advantage of the seasonal bounty provided by migrating waterfowl.{{sfn|Jeffries|2008|pp=168, 243}} Neolithic hunters in locations as far apart as the Caribbean,{{sfn|Sued-Badillo|2003|p=65}} Scandinavia,{{sfn|Thorpe|1996|p=68}} Egypt,{{sfn|Maisels|1999|p=42}} Switzerland,{{sfn|Rau|1876|p=133}} and China relied on ducks as a source of protein for some or all of the year.{{sfn|Higman|2012|p=23}} Archeological evidence shows that [[Māori people]] in New Zealand hunted the flightless [[Finsch's duck]], possibly to extinction, though rat predation may also have contributed to its fate.{{sfn|Hume|2012|p=53}} A similar end awaited the [[Chatham duck]], a species with reduced flying capabilities which went extinct shortly after its island was colonised by Polynesian settlers.{{sfn|Hume|2012|p=52}} It is probable that duck eggs were gathered by Neolithic hunter-gathers as well, though hard evidence of this is uncommon.{{sfn|Sued-Badillo|2003|p=65}}{{sfn|Fieldhouse|2002|p=167}}

In many areas, wild ducks (including ducks farmed and released into the wild) are hunted for food or sport,<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NViSMffyaSgC&q=%C2%A0%C2%A0In+many+areas,+wild+ducks+of+various+species+are+hunted+for+food+or+sport|title=Guide to Edible Plants and Animals|last=Livingston|first=A. D.|date=1998-01-01|publisher=Wordsworth Editions, Limited|isbn=9781853263774|language=en}}</ref> by shooting, or by being trapped using [[Duck decoy (structure)|duck decoys]]. Because an idle floating duck or a duck squatting on land cannot react to fly or move quickly, "a sitting duck" has come to mean "an easy target". These ducks may be [[Duck (food)#Pollution|contaminated by pollutants]] such as [[Polychlorinated biphenyl|PCBs]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Study plan for waterfowl injury assessment: Determining PCB concentrations in Hudson river resident waterfowl |url=https://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/fish_marine_pdf/wfp09a.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/fish_marine_pdf/wfp09a.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |website=New York State Department of Environmental Conservation |publisher=US Department of Commerce |access-date=2 July 2019 |page=3 |language=en |date=December 2008}}</ref>

===Domestication===
{{main|Domestic duck}}
[[File:Tunnel of ducks.jpg|thumb|[[Indian Runner duck]]s, a common breed of domestic ducks]]
Ducks have many economic uses, being farmed for their meat, eggs, and feathers (particularly their [[down feather|down]]). Approximately 3 billion ducks are slaughtered each year for meat worldwide.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/QL|title=FAOSTAT|website=www.fao.org|access-date=2019-10-25}}</ref> They are also kept and bred by aviculturists and often displayed in zoos. Almost all the varieties of domestic ducks are descended from the [[mallard]] (''Anas platyrhynchos''), apart from the [[Muscovy duck]] (''Cairina moschata'').<ref>{{cite web|url=http://digimorph.org/specimens/anas_platyrhynchos/skull/ |title=Anas platyrhynchos, Domestic Duck; DigiMorph Staff - The University of Texas at Austin |publisher=Digimorph.org |access-date=2012-12-23}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia|author=Sy Montgomery |url=https://www.britannica.com/eb/topic-360302/mallard |title=Mallard; Encyclopædia Britannica |encyclopedia=Britannica.com |access-date=2012-12-23}}</ref> The [[Call duck]] is another example of a domestic duck breed. Its name comes from its original use established by hunters, as a decoy to attract wild mallards from the sky, into traps set for them on the ground. The call duck is the world's smallest domestic duck breed, as it weighs less than {{convert|1|kg|lb|abbr=on}}.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Guinness World Records|last=Glenday|first=Craig|year=2014|isbn=978-1-908843-15-9|pages=[https://archive.org/details/guinnessworldrec0000unse_r3e7/page/135 135]|publisher=Guinness World Records Limited |url=https://archive.org/details/guinnessworldrec0000unse_r3e7/page/135}}</ref>

===Heraldry===
[[File:Maaninka.vaakuna.svg|thumb|upright=0.6|Three black-colored ducks in the coat of arms of [[Maaninka]]<ref>{{cite book | title = Suomen kunnallisvaakunat | publisher = Suomen Kunnallisliitto | year = 1982 | page = 147 | isbn = 951-773-085-3 | language = fi}}</ref>]]
Ducks appear on several [[coats of arms]], including the coat of arms of [[Lubāna]] ([[Latvia]])<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.lubana.lv/index.php/lv/homepage/lubanas-pilseta-2 | title = Lubānas simbolika | access-date = September 9, 2021 | language = lv }}</ref> and the coat of arms of [[Föglö]] ([[Åland]]).<ref>{{cite web | title = Föglö | url = http://digi.narc.fi/digi/view.ka?kuid=1738595 | access-date = September 9, 2021 | language = sv}}</ref>

===Cultural references===
In 2002, psychologist [[Richard Wiseman]] and colleagues at the [[University of Hertfordshire]], [[UK]], finished a year-long [[LaughLab]] experiment, concluding that of all animals, ducks attract the most humor and silliness; he said, "If you're going to tell a joke involving an animal, make it a duck."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Young |first1=Emma |title=World's funniest joke revealed |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn2876-worlds-funniest-joke-revealed/ |website=New Scientist |access-date=7 January 2019}}</ref> The word "duck" may have become an [[inherently funny word]] in many languages, possibly because ducks are seen as silly in their looks or behavior. Of the many [[List of fictional ducks|ducks in fiction]], many are cartoon characters, such as [[The Walt Disney Company|Walt Disney]]'s [[Donald Duck]], and [[Warner Bros.]]' [[Daffy Duck]]. [[Howard the Duck]] started as a comic book character in 1973<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.comics.org/character/name/Howard%20the%20Duck/sort/chrono/ |title=Howard the Duck (character) |website=[[Grand Comics Database]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1 = Sanderson|first1 = Peter|author-link = Peter Sanderson|last2= Gilbert|first2= Laura|chapter= 1970s|title = Marvel Chronicle A Year by Year History|publisher = [[Dorling Kindersley]]|year = 2008|location= London, United Kingdom|page = 161|isbn =978-0756641238|quote= December saw the debut of the cigar-smoking Howard the Duck. In this story by writer Steve Gerber and artist Val Mayerik, various beings from different realities had begun turning up in the Man-Thing's Florida swamp, including this bad-tempered talking duck.}}</ref> and was made into a [[Howard the Duck (film)|movie]] in 1986.

The 1992 Disney film ''[[The Mighty Ducks (film)|The Mighty Ducks]]'', starring [[Emilio Estevez]], chose the duck as the mascot for the fictional youth hockey team who are protagonists of the movie, based on the duck being described as a fierce fighter. This led to the duck becoming the nickname and mascot for the eventual [[National Hockey League]] professional team of the [[Anaheim Ducks]], who were founded with the name the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.{{citation needed|date=January 2022}} The duck is also the nickname of the [[University of Oregon]] sports teams as well as the [[Long Island Ducks]] minor league [[baseball]] team.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Duck|url=https://goducks.com/sports/2003/8/28/153778.aspx|access-date=2022-01-20|website=University of Oregon Athletics|language=en}}</ref>