Northern shoveler painting on 2025 junior duck stamp

By Charles Snee

Texas artist Catheryn Liang’s oil painting of a northern shoveler has been chosen to appear on the 2025 junior duck stamp. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service announced the winning artwork April 22.

A panel of five judges picked the 18-year-old’s painting for the top honor from among 58 entries in this year’s National Junior Duck Stamp Art Contest.

“This is the first time a northern shoveler has been selected for the Junior Duck Stamp,” according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

“The top piece of art in the nation — chosen at this annual competition — is featured on the Junior Duck Stamp, sales of which support educational programs and activities that nurture our next generation of conservationists,” the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said.

Junior duck stamps are issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and are listed in the Scott Specialized Catalogue of United States Stamps and Covers following the listings for the U.S. Department of the Interior’s migratory bird hunting and conservation stamps, more commonly known as federal duck stamps.

“The Federal Junior Duck Stamp Conservation and Design Program began in 1989 as an extension of the Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp,” the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said. “It’s a dynamic art- and science-based curriculum that teaches wetland and waterfowl conservation to students in kindergarten through high school. The program encourages students to explore their natural world, invites them to investigate biology and wildlife management principles and challenges them to express and share what they have learned with others.”

The first junior duck stamp was issued in 1993. The junior duck stamps sell for $5 each at the U.S. Postal Service’s online postal store and select national wildlife refuges. The money collected is used for conservation education, including awards and student scholarships.

Liang received $1,000 for her first-place win. Sophie Xu, 16, of Maryland earned a second-place prize of $500 for her oil painting of a pair of harlequin ducks. Dan-Nhi Nguyen, 17, of Oregon won $200 for her acrylic portrayal of a female common merganser looking over her nest of eggs, which placed third.

Kaylen Kasel, 16, of North Dakota received $200 for winning the conservation message competition with “Nature needs heroes; be one.”

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