Creekside Art Gallery Blog

The title doesn’t refer to the NASCAR circuit or to porno; it identifies certain decoys, specifically merganser decoys. The very physical characteristics that so aptly enable American, hooded and red–breasted mergansers to be successful food gatherers often inspired the imaginations of creative decoy makers. Hooded merganser decoys are the rarest of the three. All mergansers are superb underwater swimmers and divers, possessing streamlined bodies well adapted to the task. Their long thin serrated bills enable them to capture and hold fish. Upon returning to the surface, their combs are wet and slicked back. Once dry, feathers on the back of the head grandly unfurl into fan shaped crests and coiffures suggesting the nickname "hairy heads" to some hunters. More »