When is National Duckling Month? The month of May!
What is this holiday about?
When you first read the title of this observance you tend to think it's talking about a holiday in honor of pet duckling (Animal Holidays) but it is actually referring to "duck" as a food source. (Food Holidays) Many people celebrate this holiday as a pet duckling holiday just the same, especially animal rights groups and vegans.- Either way; duck as a food is enjoyed all over the world and ducks as pets are also popular all over the world as well! So during National Duckling Month, you are free to celebrate duckling in any way you see fit!
Origin of this Holiday
Back in 1988, the Senator Jesse Helms introduced a bill making May National Duckling Month. The bill, which passed easily, listed the following reasons for this critical piece of legislation:
- Designating the month of May as `National Duckling Month'.
- Whereas the duckling industry in the United States is approximately one hundred years old, and with duck having historically been a delicacy for the Egyptians five thousand years ago and more lately in the Far East, especially for the Chinese in the preparation of the famous Peking duckling;
- Whereas duckling is rising in popularity in the United States among all people, and not just ethnic groups;
- Whereas demand for duckling has increased at restaurants by 300 to 400 per centum over the last four to five years;
- Whereas there is a need to educate the consumer as to the nutritional value of duckling, which is an excellent source of protein as well as being low in sodium and saturated fats;
- Whereas the duckling industry in this country produces over one hundred thirty million pounds of duckling annually, generating over $176,000,000 in revenue;
- Whereas the duckling industry employs over one thousand United States citizens and contracts with over two hundred fifty family farms;
- Whereas the duckling industry uses one hundred fifty thousand tons of feed produced by local farmers;
- Whereas breeding has increased the lean meat portion and reduced the fat content of duckling; and
- Whereas the United States duckling industry exports thousands of tons of duckling products (including duckling meat, tongues, feathers and liver) to over forty countries--including those of the Far East--thus helping to reduce the national trade deficit: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the month of May is designated as `National Duckling Month,' and that the President is requested to issue a proclamation calling upon the people of the United States to observe such month with appropriate ceremonies and activities.
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We found recognition about this holiday from:
Calendar sites, animal sites, nature sites and personal Internet sites that blog and share information about this holiday.
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Definition of a duckling: by wikipedia
"Duck is the common name for a number of species in the Anatidae family of birds. The ducks are divided between several subfamilies listed in full in the Anatidae article; they do not represent a monophyletic group but a form taxon, being the Anatidae not considered swans and geese. Ducks are mostly aquatic birds, mostly smaller than the swans and geese, and may be found in both fresh water and sea water.
Ducks are sometimes confused with several types of unrelated water birds with similar forms, such as loons or divers, grebes, gallinules, and coots.
Etymology:
"The word duck (from Anglo-Saxon dūce), meaning the bird, came from the verb "to duck" (from Anglo-Saxon supposed *dūcan) meaning "to bend down low as if to get under something" or "to dive", because of the way many species in the dabbling duck group feed by upending (compare Dutch duiken, German tauchen = "to dive").
This happened because the older Anglo-Saxon words ened (= "duck") and ende (= "end") came to be pronounced the same: other Germanic languages still have similar words for "duck" and "end": for example, Dutch eend = "duck", eind = "end", German Ente = "duck", Ende = "end"; this similarity goes back to Proto-Indo-European: compare Latin anas (stem anat-) = "duck", Lithuanian antis = "duck", Ancient Greek νήσσα, νήττα (nēssa, nētta) = "duck"; Sanskrit anta = "end".
Some people use "duck" specifically for adult females and "drake" for adult males, for the species described here; others use "hen" and "drake", respectively.
A duckling is a young duck in downy plumage or baby duck.; but in the food trade young adult ducks ready for roasting are sometimes labelled "duckling"."
Relationship with humans:
"Ducks have many economic uses, being farmed for their meat, eggs, feathers, (particularly their down). They are also kept and bred by aviculturists and often displayed in zoos. All domestic ducks are descended from the wild Mallard Anas platyrhynchos, except the Muscovy Duck . Many domestic breeds have become much larger than their wild ancestor, with a "hull length" (from base of neck to base of tail) of 30 cm (12 inches) or more and routinely able to swallow an adult British Common Frog Rana temporaria whole; the wild mallard's "hull length" is about 6 inches."
FAO reports that China is the top duck market in 2004 followed by Vietnam and other South East Asian countries.
In many areas, wild ducks of various species (including ducks farmed and released into the wild) are hunted for food or sport, by shooting, or formerly by decoys. Because an idle, floating duck or a duck squatted on land cannot react, fly or move quickly, "a sitting duck" has come to mean "an easy target".
Wild ducks of many species and domesticated breeds are widely consumed around the world.
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 most the humor and silliness; he said "If you're going to tell a joke involving an animal, make it a duck." 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 ducks in fiction, many are cartoon characters like Donald Duck and Daffy Duck (see the New Scientist article mentioning humor in the word "duck")."
"A duck test is a form of inductive reasoning, which can be phrased as follows: "If a bird looks like a duck, swims like a duck and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck." The test implies that a person can figure out the true nature of an unknown subject by observing this subject's readily identifiable traits. It is sometimes used to counter abstruse arguments that something is not what it appears to be. This is used in the computer science term of Duck typing."
As pets and ornamentals:
"Domesticated ducks can be kept as pets. They can be kept in a garden or backyard, and with special accessories, have also been known to be kept in the house as a pet. They will often eat insects and slugs. A pond or water dish is recommended although they will probably dredge out and eat any wildlife and frogspawn in a pond, and swallow adult frogs and toads up to the size of the British common frog Rana temporaria, as they have been bred to be much bigger than wild ducks with a "hull length" (base of neck to base of tail) of up to a foot or more; the wild mallard's "hull length" is about 6 inches. A coop should be provided for shelter from predators such as foxes, hawks, coyotes, and racoons, as their size makes them unable to fly properly."
"Ducks are also kept for their ornamental value. Breeds have been developed with crests and tufts or striking plumage. Shows are held in which ducks can be displayed."
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