Birders fear for safety of rare duck spotted in Humboldt County

This Common Pochard in Humboldt Bay (center, among the other ducks) is raising a lot of attention, and no small amount of concern. Photo: Alan Schmierer

A extremely rare appearance of a Common Pochard in Humboldt Bay has drawn flocks of birders to the area. But some have expressed concern that duck hunters will shoot the bird as a prize. Audubon California policy director, Michael Lynes, offers his insight in the Sacramento Bee:

"My argument for why I hope someone doesn’t kill this duck is this: It would be nice if hundreds of people could enjoy this rare event, rather than just the one person who could shoot it.”

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