Delbert Lee "Cigar" Daisey (March 6, 1928 – April 19, 2017), known as "Cigar" Daisey, was an American

waterfowl Anseriformes is an order of birds also known as waterfowl that comprises about 180 living species of birds in three families: Anhimidae (three species of screamers), Anseranatidae (the magpie goose), and Anatidae, the largest family, which i ...

wood carver Wood carving (or woodcarving) is a form of woodworking by means of a cutting tool (knife) in one hand or a chisel by two hands or with one hand on a chisel and one hand on a mallet, resulting in a wooden figure or figurine, or in the sculptural ...

and

decoy A decoy (derived from the Dutch ''de'' ''kooi'', literally "the cage" or possibly ''eenden kooi'', " duck cage") is usually a person, device, or event which resembles what an individual or a group might be looking for, but it is only meant to ...

maker. He was the son of Herbert Lee Daisey and Emma Jane Daisey. He was born, lived and worked in Chincoteague, Virginia, and was the resident carver at the Refuge Waterfowl Museum.Collins, Dennis. "Former Outlaw Hunters Carving Out New Lives", ''The Washington Post'', April 13, 1982, page C3. His decoy carvings are recognized for both their artistic value and functionality as working pieces for

waterfowl hunting Waterfowl hunting is the practice of hunting aquatic birds such as ducks, geese and other waterfowls or shorebirds for sport and meat. Waterfowl are hunted in crop fields where they feed, or in areas with bodies of water such as rivers, lakes ...

. His works include black ducks,

mallard The mallard () or wild duck (''Anas platyrhynchos'') is a dabbling duck that breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Eurasia, and North Africa. It has been introduced to New Zealand, Australia, Peru, Brazil, Uruguay, Arge ...

s, redheads, ruddys and

red-breasted merganser The red-breasted merganser (''Mergus serrator'') is a duck species that is native to much of the Northern Hemisphere. The red breast that gives the species its common name is only displayed by males in breeding plumage. Individuals fly rapidly ...

s and often crafted in drake (male) and hen (female) pairs. He had carved about 1900 ducks in total and he generally used cork or wood as his medium. He carved his first duck out of balsa wood in 1940 at his father's wood shop. The Smithsonian has his works in their collection. He was given his nickname in 1945 by John Buckalew, Federal Game Warden and first manager of the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge because Daisey would leave cigar butts to taunt game wardens while poaching ducks on

Assateague Island Assateague Island is a long barrier island located off the eastern coast of the Delmarva Peninsula facing the Atlantic Ocean. The northern two-thirds of the island are in Maryland, and the southern third is in Virginia. The entire island is ...

.Harden, Blaine. "Killer of 30,000 Ducks", ''The Washington Post'', August 11, 1979, page D2. Later in life, Daisey was an avid conservationist. One of the most valuable pieces he ever made was a pintail in 1973, as a present for his wife. That was the only fully decorative decoy he had ever made, and was featured in ''

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...

'' magazine, June 1980, page 826. The decoy was estimated to be worth $150,000."The Ward Museum of Wildfowl Art"
Salisbury, Maryland, Delbert "Cigar" Daisey, accessed April 21, 2017

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Daisey, Delbert 1928 births 2017 deaths American woodcarvers People from Chincoteague, Virginia 20th-century American sculptors 21st-century American sculptors 21st-century American male artists American male sculptors Sculptors from Virginia 20th-century American male artists