{"id":5005,"date":"2024-07-30T10:04:00","date_gmt":"2024-07-30T14:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/?p=5005"},"modified":"2024-07-31T13:54:31","modified_gmt":"2024-07-31T17:54:31","slug":"eight-great-reasons-to-love-the-new-migratory-bird-stamp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/eight-great-reasons-to-love-the-new-migratory-bird-stamp\/","title":{"rendered":"Eight Great Reasons to Love the Migratory Bird Stamp"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Wildlife biologist and artist Chuck Black won the 2024-2025 contest with his painting of a Northern Pintail, titled “Graceful Anticipation.” Image by Chuck Black\/USFWS.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Originally published July 2014; updated July 2024.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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WHERE TO BUY A DUCK STAMP<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

You can buy Duck Stamps at many post offices, National Wildlife Refuge offices, and sporting-goods stores, as well as online from USPS<\/a>, Amplex<\/a>, and the American Birding Association<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Among the U.S.’s many spectacular federal and state lands, it pays to remember the wildlife havens that are the National Wildlife Refuge system, administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. This system of more than 500 areas is managed primarily for the benefit of wildlife, and they are great places to see birds of all kinds, including waterfowl, shorebirds, and songbirds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the best ways to support National Wildlife Refuges is to buy a Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp, or “Duck Stamp,” every year. It’s a win-win-win: it proudly proclaims your support of public land, it funnels money directly to the refuge system (to the tune of some $40 million per year), and it gets you free entry to the refuges all year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Duck stamps Though the Years<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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\"The
Tundra Swans in flight were featured on the 2023-2024 stamp by Joseph Hautman. Hartman left a career in physics to pursue his passion for art and has won the contest six times\u2014an achievement shared with one other duck stamp artist, his brother. Image by Joseph Hautman\/USFWS.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"a
The 2022-2023 featured a pair of Redheads, painted by James Hautman. Two of Hautman’s brothers are also winners of the contest. Image by James Hautman\/USFWS.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"The
Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks were featured on the 2020-2021 stamp by Eddie LeRoy. LeRoy has won several state waterfowl stamps and two National Wild Turkey Federation stamps. Image by Eddie LeRoy\/USFWS.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"The
The 2018\u20132019 stamp features a Mallard pair and was painted by Bob Hautman, one of three brothers who have also won the contest. Image by Bob Hautman\/USFWS.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"2017
The 2017-2018 stamp features a trio of Canada Geese and was painted by James Hautman. Image by James Hautman\/USFWS.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"The
Jennifer Miller’s gorgeous painting of a pair of Ruddy Ducks is on the 2015-2016 stamp. Image by Jennifer MIller\/USFWS.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"The
A pair of Canvasback were featured on the 2014-2015 stamp by Adam Grimm. Grimm was the youngest artist to win the Federal Duck Stamp contest for the 2000-2001 stamp of a Mottled Duck. Image by Adam Grimm\/USFWS.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"The
The 2013 stamp featured a Common Goldeneye and was painted by Robert Steiner, who also won the contest in 1998-1999 with a picture of a Barrow’s Goldeneye. Image by Robert Steiner\/USFWS.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"The
Sherrie Russell Meline won the 2005 contest with her Ross’s Goose, becoming only the second woman to have won so far. Image by Sherrie Russell\/USFWS.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"The
Robert Steiner’s 1998 stamp of a Barrow’s Goldeneye, raised nearly $25 million for refuges in a single year. Image by Robert Steiner\/USFWS.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"The
Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks by James Hautman (1990). In the movie “Fargo,” a character named Hautman is a strong Duck Stamp contender. Image by James Hautman\/USFWS.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"The
The 1971 duck stamp of Cinnamon Teal by Maynard Reece remains the highest-selling stamp with almost 2.5 million sold. Image by Maynard Reece\/USFWS.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"The
The 1968-1964 stamp featured a black and white wash drawing of Hooded Mergansers by Claremont Gale Pritchard, who joined the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission in 1948 as a staff illustrator. Image by Claremont Gale Pritchard\/USFWS.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"The
In 1960, this Redheads stamp by John A. Ruthven was the first to top $5 million in sales. Image by John A. Ruthven\/USFWS.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"The
The 1950-51 stamp (Trumpeter Swans by Walter A. Weber) was the first to be chosen by competition. Image by Walter A. Weber\/USFWS.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"The
The very first duck stamp of Mallards sold for $1 in 1934 and was designed by “Ding” Darling. Darling was a famous cartoonist and the chief of the Biological Survey, a precursor of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, from 1934 to 1936. He was the one who conceived the idea of using duck stamps to raise money for the purchase of wetlands, and has a refuge named after him. Image by Jay N. “Ding” Darling\/USFWS.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Buying a Migratory Bird Stamp<\/a> is a simple and direct way for people to contribute to grassland and wetland conservation. In 2013, the New York Times<\/em> ran a piece on the annual stamp art competition<\/a>; now here’s our own list of eight reasons to love the stamp:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Over $1 billion for conservation and counting.<\/strong> The first stamp was issued in 1934. It cost $1 (about $18 in today\u2019s dollars) and sold 635,001 copies. By law, the funds raised go directly to habitat acquisition in the lower 48 states. By now, stamp sales have surpassed $1 billion and helped to protect 6.5 million acres of wetland and grassland habitat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. A 73-year tradition of beautiful wildlife art.<\/strong> The Migratory Bird stamp is a beautiful collectible and a great artistic tradition. Since 1949, the design of each year\u2019s duck stamp has been chosen in an open art contest. The 2022 stamp, showing a pair of Redheads, was painted by James Hautman, a veteran of the contest who now has six wins to his name (see a gallery of all stamps back to 1934<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. A bargain at $25.<\/strong> Ninety-eight cents of each dollar spent on a stamp goes directly to land conservation for the National Wildlife Refuge System<\/a>. This $25 purchase is perhaps the single simplest thing you can do to support a legacy of wetland and grassland conservation for birds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. It\u2019s much more than ducks.<\/strong> Waterfowl hunters have long been the main supporters for the program\u2014the stamps are a requirement for anyone 16 or older who wants to hunt. But the funds benefit scores of other bird species, including shorebirds, herons, raptors, and songbirds, not to mention reptiles, amphibians, fish, butterflies, native plants, and more. (See a full illustrated history of how the Duck Stamp helped save North American waterfowl<\/a>, from Bird Academy.)<\/p>\n\n\n

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